Health reminds Feijóo that the competence lies with the Government of Ceuta and adds that the request for confinement "is not justified"
Minister Monica Garcia has stated that immigrants and Ceutis "do not live in the same spaces" and that short street interactions "cannot pose a public health risk." On the other hand, there will be a meeting this Monday for the autonomies to send vaccines to Ceuta.
The Spanish Minister of Health, Mónica García, has stated that the confinement of migrants in the autonomous city of Ceuta "may not only not be justified, but also be harmful", and has replied to the President of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo , that "if thejustification is public health reasons, it seems unjustified and disproportionate ", following his request this morning .
The PP leader, in fact, has called on the President ofthe Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, to impose confinement in Ceuta because of the "health risk" to infectious and contagious diseases (sarna or tuberculosis) detected after "more than 70,000 illegal migrants" were introduced at the end of July.
Minister Garcia recalled that Organic Law 3/1986 of 14 April on Special Measuresin the Field of Public Health "refers to the need to make reasonable indications for confinement, which does not seem to be the case with what we have today".
"Confinement as a public health measure must have to do with the disease transmission mechanism that it wants to control," said Garcia, who in this case "in terms of public health, it can be more than beneficial," he wrote in his profile on the X network.
In addition, the Health Counselor reminded Feijóo that "in Ceuta the competences in the field of public health lie with the Government of Ceuta ", so"every time Feijóo says it is a public health emergency,he should ask the city government what he is doing ", he added.
Garcia refutes Feijóo's claims with data.
With regard to the four diseases mentioned by Feijóo: tuberculosis, chickenpox, sarna and gastroenteritis, the minister explained that, with regard to tuberculosis , "there are three confirmed cases." A0one of them "came with treatment and was not contagious," "another was cerebral tuberculosis and is not contagious."
With regard to chickenpox, the minister has said that "three suspected cases"have been detected, one of them derived from the Strait Transit Operation, which "has nothing to do with what we are talking about", and that the controls also ruled it out.
Withregard to Sarna, García referred to a study published in Eurosurveillance in 2025, according to which scabiosis "is much more common in Spain than thought", with more cases appearing "where there are stronger screening programmes", such as in the case of the Basque Country. Thus, he reported that "between 2021 and 2023 there were 1,529 outbreaks in Ceuta and a total of 11,301 cases in Spain".
Withregard to gastroenteritis, García has objectedto the 450 cases cited by the popular leader: "Grouped outbreaks and analyzed by the Preventive Medicine Service of the Ceuta Hospital, we could talk about 55 possible casesof E. coli enteroinbasibic, already controlled and without further development of cases ", and he said" very specifically "that" they are related to the consumption of water not fit for human consumption in Ceuta ".
Several migrants on a street in Ceuta.
"The priority is to place people in the right places."
The Minister of Health has stressed that the aforementioned diseases "are diseases that exist in our environment and the surveillance systems for these diseases are always active, especially in a situation like this", and has recalled that when a diagnosis is confirmed "these people are isolated and a contact study is carried out according to the existing protocols and are common to all the autonomous communities".
"The essential and urgent thing in this case is to accommodate these people and provide themwith basic hygiene and sanitation conditions, ensuring that they have adequate access to safe drinking water, hygiene and food, "he said, adding that this measure would make it possible to" control most of the risk elements for the development of outbreaks. "
He also wanted to make it clear that the migrant population and the population of Ceuta "do not live in the same spaces or in general health care procedures"and saidthat short interactions on public roads "cannot pose a public health risk ". On the other hand, he recalled that the protocols for health professionals in contact with potential infectious and contagious diseases "are not new, nor apply only to this crisis."
The minister has argued that "work is being done with the public health people of the City of Ceuta, both in monitoring and in the deployment of vaccination programmes, in accordance with the vaccination protocol for migrants and refugees approved by the Public Health Commission in June 2026."
A man cuts his hair at the El Tarajal Industrial Estate in Ceuta.
Vaccination meeting with the Autonomous Communities this Monday
It is precisely on Monday that this committee will meet, with the participation of all the Autonomous Communities, "to facilitate the transfer of vaccines to Ceuta, also using the powers of the city government, while acquiring more doses," explained Minister García.
He has told Feijo that if he wants to "help," he should "askthe Government of the City of Ceuta to immediately relinquish all the spaces to accommodate these people in a healthy manner, "and he has also asked him" to stop asking for measures that he would not extend or require if migrants from Africa did not come. "
Cuerpo travels to Ceuta to discuss financial support with businesses after the migration crisis
On the other hand, the First Vice-President of the Spanish Government and Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo, will travel to Ceuta on Monday to provide the city with the financial assistance it needs as a result of the migration crisis.
It will hold working meetings with the Government of the Autonomous City, business associations, social partners and businesses to support Ceuta, not only from a humanitarian and security point of view, but also from an economic point of view, according to sources from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise.
The Executive is working on an economic revival plan for the city, the amount of which is not yet closed, and which aims to address the impact of the crisis on trade and tourism.
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