Ceuta crisis sends three Spanish ministers into constitutional clash

Spain’s Senate is preparing to take three government ministers to the Constitutional Court over their refusal to appear before the upper house to explain the handling of mass crossings from Morocco into Ceuta.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Defense Minister Margarita Robles and Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares were summoned in August to appear before Senate committees examining the events of July 30 and 31, when large numbers of people crossed into Ceuta.

The People’s Party, or PP, which holds a majority in the Senate, says that the ministers’ failure to attend amounts to a refusal to submit to parliamentary oversight.

The dispute is expected to be debated in the Senate on Sept. 9 before being sent to Spain’s Constitutional Court, according to Spanish newspaper El Español.

The Senate’s official records show that the three ministers were formally summoned. Marlaska was expected to explain the Interior Ministry’s response and measures taken after the arrivals from Morocco.

Albares was due to address Spain’s foreign policy and relations with Rabat, while Robles was expected to explain the role and deployment of the armed forces.

The government had sought to cancel the extraordinary Senate sessions scheduled for August. Marlaska and Albares instead appeared before the Congress of Deputies, while Robles initially agreed to attend the Senate on Aug. 18. That appearance was later dropped, according to El Español.

The PP says the ministers were legally required to attend, citing Article 110 of Spain’s Constitution and the Senate’s rules, which allow parliamentary chambers and their committees to demand the presence of government ministers.

PP Senate spokeswoman Alicia Garcia said the appearances were not optional invitations.

The dispute comes as the Spanish government continues to face questions over what happened at the Ceuta border and whether authorities had sufficient warning of the crossings.

Robles has said intelligence services issued warnings before the crisis, while Marlaska initially said there had been no prior report. Spain’s National Intelligence Centre, or CNI, had reportedly detected a mobilization near the border on July 29.