A video has surfaced of Irene Montero, a prominent Spanish socialist politician and former Minister of Equality, expressing a desire to see Spanish 'racists' and 'fascists' replaced by migrants and advocating for their voting rights. The remarks were made months before an unprecedented influx of approximately 60,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
In the video, Montero, a member of the hard-left Podemos party, appealed for support from 'migrants' and 'people of colour,' urging them not to leave Spanish people 'alone with all these fascists.' She stated, "We absolutely want you to vote. We've managed to get you papers, and now we want regularisation. Next, we're going to get you citizenship, or change the law so you can vote."
Montero also expressed hope that a "the replacement theory helps us rid this country of fascists and racists to replace them with migrants and working-class people." She further clarified, "Of course I want there to be a replacement of fascists, racists and freeloaders, and I want us to do it with the working class of this country, regardless of their skin colour, whether they're Chinese, Black or brown. Together with all the working-class comrades in this country."
Montero, currently a Member of the European Parliament, was a vocal proponent of Spain's mass regularization program, which aimed to grant legal status to around 500,000 undocumented migrants. The program, implemented in April, saw long queues and some instances of unrest as migrants sought documentation.
This regularization followed a recent Spanish Supreme Court ruling that migrants intercepted at sea attempting to reach Ceuta and Melilla cannot be summarily returned to Morocco. The ruling is seen as a contributing factor to the surge of arrivals.
The influx into Ceuta on Thursday led to significant chaos, with thousands swimming ashore from Morocco. Similar scenes unfolded in Melilla, Spain's other North African enclave, on Friday. Residents of Ceuta described the situation as an 'invasion,' with some reporting fear and uncertainty.
In response to the events, Montero posted on social media, advocating for humane treatment of migrants and criticizing external policies. "Let's always treat people as people, even in the most difficult moments, and not like cockroaches or Amazon packages," she wrote. "Neither you nor anyone else would risk their own life, or their family's, by migrating unless they absolutely had to. They are no different."
She also commented on international migration policy: "Spain and Europe have spent years paying Morocco, Libya and Mauritania so that they are the ones who 'deal with' these people, allowing us to claim that we are full democracies. And if you pay a dictatorship like Morocco to do your dirty work, when Morocco wants more, or when the US or Israel tells it to, it stops doing it in order to blackmail you. None of this would happen if there were legal and safe routes for people to enter, and if we stopped depending on murderous dictatorships for our migration policy."
Local residents in Ceuta expressed distress, with some describing the situation as a national emergency. Protests against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's migration policies have occurred in the enclave and across Spain. Sanchez faced boos and jeers from locals upon his arrival in Ceuta.
Analysts have suggested that Morocco may have facilitated the migrant crossings to exert diplomatic pressure on Spain, particularly following Spain's recent improvement of ties with Algeria, a rival of Morocco. Some arriving migrants have also alleged that Moroccan police encouraged them to cross into Spain.
The European Union is scheduled to hold a video call to discuss a coordinated response to the situation. Meanwhile, Italy, France, and Finland have indicated plans to tighten border controls and reconsider Spain's participation in the Schengen Area due to concerns over uncontrolled immigration.
