Spanish Lawmakers Confirm Migrant Deaths on Spanish Soil in Melilla Border Tragedy

"Based on what we have seen, it seems to indicate that the deaths occurred in the area of control of the Spanish authorities," Enrique Santiago, deputy spokesman for Podemos, told El Pais at the end of the visit to the fence. The version of the facts given by the police commanders "leaves no doubt that the avalanche took place on Spanish territory," echoed the EH Bildu deputy, Jon Iñarritu. ERC deputy María Carvalho, as well as PP deputy Ana Belén Vázquez, share the same opinion.

"The avalanche of migrants that would have caused deaths occurred in an area of the border post where the Guardia Civil agents had to withdraw after two of them were injured by the migrants who broke two entrance doors on the Spanish side," specified the PP deputy. Her PNV colleague, Mikel Legarda, prefers to view the surveillance camera recordings before commenting on the subject. The Ministry of the Interior has promised to show these images to the deputies in the coming days in order to make "a complete assessment of what happened".

Since this tragedy, the department led by Fernando Grande-Marlaska has maintained that the deaths occurred only in the Moroccan area of the border. "There were no deaths on Spanish territory," the minister reiterated on Monday from Cuenca. However, the Directorate General of the Cadastre under the Ministry of Finance and the National Geographic Institute under the Ministry of Transport place the area where the events took place on Spanish territory. An important detail recently clarified by the BBC in a documentary.

The Ministry of the Interior has rejected this postulate and regretted that the British channel makes "very serious accusations" without proof. For the time being, the public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation that is stalling due to the difficulties encountered in obtaining the results of the autopsies that would have been carried out by the Moroccan authorities on the deceased.