The president of the Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias (FEMP), María José García-Pelayo, has announced that she will give up her seat on the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) in favour of the president of the Autonomous City of Ceuta, Juan Vivas. García-Pelayo made the decision public in Ceuta on 25 August after meeting Vivas. It is intended to give the city direct representation in the EU advisory body and to present the situation on the ground in Brussels . Formal confirmation within the Spanish CoR delegation is still pending.
García-Pelayo, who is also mayor of Jerez de la Frontera, justified the move by citing the urgency of involving European institutions in managing the migration situation that has continued since the end of July. Vivas described the announcement as an important step and said he would lobby in Brussels for specific aid for Ceuta, including funding for reception facilities, security at the external border and economic stabilisation measures. It does not automatically entail any specific financial commitments.
The European Committee of the Regions is an advisory body of the European Union in which regional and local representatives draw up opinions on EU legislation. Changes to national delegations are initiated by the member states and submitted to the CoR for confirmation. Until these procedural steps are completed, Vivas’s participation remains legally in preparation.
The announcement comes at a time of heightened political attention on Ceuta and Melilla as EU external borders. According to the government, national operational coordination for managing the situation has recently been reorganised, including a unified command structure and economic support measures. Ceuta has also been calling for greater coordination with Madrid and Brussels for weeks; Vivas had previously called for more state resources and clearer responsibilities.
Politically, García-Pelayo’s move puts additional pressure on the central government to prioritise the border city’s concerns in European forums. At the same time, the FEMP is signalling that municipalities and associations of local authorities are seeking a more active role in EU debates on migration, security and funding. Whether the hoped-for increase in Ceuta’s visibility in the CoR leads to decisions that have an impact in the short term depends on the forthcoming nomination and procedural steps, as well as negotiations with the European Union. Responsibility for specific measures remains with the Spanish authorities and the relevant EU institutions; forecasts about the scale and timing of any possible aid are therefore uncertain.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).