The intention of the central government to use the facilities of Ciudad Real Airport as an Emergency Reception and Orientation Center (CEAD) for immigrants has caused a new disagreement between the government of Emiliano García-Page with the Spanish government as well as with the government delegation, led by the former mayor of Toledo, Milagro Tolon, who, according to his statements, held a meeting two weeks ago to address this issue with the Ministry of Inclusion, Migration and Social Security, a meeting of which the regional government was not informed.
García-Page criticized the plan, which he compared to the model that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni agreed with Albania to install two migrant detention and expulsion centers in that country.
The harshness with which Garcia Page After having denounced it the day before during the Debate on the State of the Region, he assessed the response of the Government Delegation and admitted to having felt “annoyed” and “disgusted”. In the political environment of the region, many people, with these demonstrations, are reminded of the political distance that exists between Tolón and Page, whom some within the party describe as “close enemies”.
Sources from the Government Delegation confirmed to ABC that there was a meeting between the Ministry of Migration and the delegations at which, however, the delegate was not present. “Yes, there was representation from the Delegation through a subdelegate, but during this meeting no delegation proposed anything and we went to listen to the Ministry’s lines of action. And under no circumstances has any agreement concerning Ciudad Real airport been transferred,” specify the same sources.
On the government side, government spokesperson Pilar Alegría regretted yesterday that an “absolutely artificial and unreal” controversy had been created over the possibility of transforming Ciudad Real airport into a reception and emergency guidance for migrants. Alegría yesterday framed the study of this infrastructure within the normality of the work carried out by the government, which is studying “hundreds” of locations to accommodate these migrants and “relieve tensions” in arrival areas such as the Canary Islands.
In this regard, Milagros Tolón said that, after the words of Minister Alegría, “we are talking about people who come without any means of continuing to live and I am convinced that there will be good coordination between the Ministry and the Spanish Government and the different autonomous communities to, in one way or another, protect these people. “Technicians are evaluating different options to help these people,” he said.
However, the regional president spoke of a “act of disloyalty” during a press conference at the Fuensalida Palace in which he presented, together with the mayor, Carlos Velázquez, the Cinema City project and in which he also asked for the draft contracts that the government was supposed to manage and the airport company.
