70,000-plus Ceuta arrivals put Spain’s poll in focus
Spain’s official polling centre will publish its first voting estimate since more than 70,000 migrants entered Ceuta from Morocco on 30 and 31 July. The Centre for Sociological Research (CIS) releases its September barometer on Monday, following fieldwork in the first days of September. It is the first monthly survey since the crisis dominated Spain’s political debate over the summer, as the CIS does not issue an August barometer.
Intelligence warning row ends in resignation
During the survey fieldwork, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez appeared before Congress to explain his government’s handling of the crisis. He said intelligence warnings about the mass entry would be declassified, amid friction between Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Defence Minister Margarita Robles.
Documents published on Wednesday showed that Spain’s National Intelligence Centre, known as the CNI, sent a WhatsApp warning on 29 July to Gonzalo Sanz, chief of staff to the government delegate in Ceuta. It referred to a social-media call to enter the city by fence and sea.
Sanz resigned on Friday, saying he had personally passed the information to government delegate Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano. His account contradicted the version Pérez Triano had given the previous day.
PSOE held July lead
The CIS’s July barometer put the PSOE first on 33%, up 1.7 points on June. The PP fell 2.1 points to 25.1%, leaving a 7.9-point gap between the two largest parties.
Vox remained third on 15.3%, while Sumar stood at 6.1%. Se Acabó la Fiesta rose to 2.6%, overtaking Podemos, which fell to 2.5%, for the first time in the CIS barometers.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com