Ceuta leader tells Brussels the city is a "pressure cooker"
Listen to the story
Juan Vivas, the president of the Spanish city of Ceuta, has travelled to Brussels to speak about problems he says are affecting the city. Ceuta is a Spanish territory located in North Africa, next to Morocco.
In Brussels, Vivas told European officials that Ceuta has become a "pressure cooker". This means, he said, that pressure and tension in the city have been building up and could soon become a bigger problem.
Vivas said he wants the European Parliament to approve a resolution, an official statement expressing a shared position, so that the European Union can respond to Morocco directly about the situation.
Vivas also criticised Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. He said Sánchez does not want to publicly blame Morocco for what Vivas described as an "invasion" of Ceuta.
By using the word "invasion", Vivas suggested that people have been entering Ceuta from Morocco in a way that Spain has not been able to properly control.
Vivas appears to believe that the Spanish government has not acted firmly enough to protect Ceuta and has avoided confronting Morocco over the issue.
His trip to Brussels seems aimed at pushing the matter beyond Spanish politics and turning it into a European issue, hoping that pressure from the EU might change how the situation is handled.
So far, it is not clear how the European Parliament or the Spanish government will respond to Vivas's comments and his call for a resolution.
Vocabulary10 words
- pressure cooker
- a situation with too much tension; likely to explode
- European Parliament
- the group that makes laws for the European Union
- resolution
- an official statement or decision by a group
- European Union
- a group of European countries working together
- prime minister
- the top leader of a country's government
- invasion
- people entering a place by force, without permission
- territory
- an area of land controlled by a country
- tension
- a feeling of stress before a problem
- criticise
- to say something is wrong or bad
- confront
- to deal with a problem directly
Quiz
Answer key
1. Brussels 2. Approve a resolution about Morocco 3. False
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Juan Vivas, the president of the Spanish city of Ceuta, has travelled to _____ to speak about problems he says are affecting the city.
In Brussels, Vivas told European officials that Ceuta has become a "_____". This means, he said, that pressure and tension in the city have been building up.
Vivas said he wants the European _____ to approve a resolution so that the European Union can respond to _____ directly about the situation.
Vivas also criticised Spain's prime minister, Pedro _____. He said Sánchez does not want to publicly blame Morocco for what Vivas described as an "_____" of Ceuta.
Vivas appears to believe that the Spanish _____ has not acted firmly enough to protect Ceuta.
His trip to Brussels seems aimed at turning the matter into a _____ issue.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think Vivas chose to raise this issue in Brussels instead of only in Spain?
- What could the phrase "pressure cooker" suggest about daily life in Ceuta?
- Why might a national leader avoid publicly blaming a neighbouring country?
- What role, if any, do you think the European Union should play in disputes between an EU country and a neighbouring state?