Frontex's role in the Balearic Islands is in turmoil: the Interior Ministry insists it has been operating since February.
The organization denied that the Spanish government had requested help in this regard.
PalmFrontex acts or not in the Balearic IslandsWhere has the migration wave surged this year? Just over 24 hours ago, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) denied the government delegation's claims to the islands and asserted that it has no agents deployed in the archipelago. It also stated that the Spanish government has not requested assistance in that territory. However, the Ministry of the Interior maintains that in November 2024 it requested air reinforcements for Frontex, specifically on the southern border of the Balearic Islands, to improve the detection of small boats. Furthermore, it insists that this reinforcement became effective especially starting last February. The People's Party (PP) has asked Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska to clarify why there are such discrepancies in the accounts.
The mess of versions began when the Spanish government delegate in the Islands, Alfonso Rodríguez, stated last week in an appearance before the Senate that Frontex had already been asked in November 2024 to ensure that the work being carried out in the Western Mediterranean had "an impact" on the Balearic trafficking zone, and that this had been the case since February. On the contrary, the spokesperson for this organization, Chris Borowsky, denied this on Wednesday to IB3 Radio, when he said that they have not received any formal request from the Spanish government in this regard nor do they have agents deployed on the Islands. Following these statements, the PP and Vox demanded Rodríguez's resignation.
The PP asks Marlaska to appear
Ministry sources have confirmed to ARA Baleares that they requested this reinforcement of resources in the Islands through the JORA application. They also emphasized that the deployment is part of the operational plan between Spain and the agency signed last January. The PP deputy for the Islands in Congress, José Vicente Marí, has announced that his group will request Marlaska appear before the lower house to explain whether he has held talks with Algeria regarding the arrival of boats to the Islands, and also "the lies about Frontex."
"Incontestable truth"
Alfonso Rodríguez explained this Thursday that the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, communicated in September in a letter addressed to the Minister for the Presidency, Coordination of Government Action and Local Cooperation, Antònia Estarellas, that since February 19 of this year, Frontex aircraft have been monitoring the Balearic Sea in real time as part of their surveillance work in the southern Mediterranean. Rodríguez, who described it as an "incontestable truth" that Frontex monitors the waters of the Balearic Islands.
It was on November 19, 2024 when, as the delegate explained, a request was sent to Frontex through the official JORA application for reinforced aerial surveillance in the pre-border area in the south of the Balearic Islands, with the aim of improving the early detection of vessels and supporting.
Frontex aircraft
He added that the deployment of the Frontex aircraft is included in the operations plan that Spain signed with the European Agency last January, which is renewed and updated annually. Furthermore, the delegate explained that, in the letter, Grande-Marlaska states that this is information he had already provided to the President of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés.
Rodríguez accused the President of the Government, Marga Prohens, and the President of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, of maliciously distorting the statements made by Frontex spokesperson Chris Borowski, who said this Wednesday that Spain had not requested any deployment. For the delegate, this statement does not constitute any inconsistency with what has been maintained thus far by the State Government Delegation and the Ministry of the Interior. "There is no contradiction," he insisted.