If it were not for the State of Alarm in which Spain is located, everything would be ready for the Operation of the Strait of 2020 to begin in mid-June. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has put this operation in check Every year it concentrates more than three million passengers and half a million vehicles that travel from all over Europe to the Maghreb through the Strait of Gibraltar.
This same week, local media reported that the OPE was delayed "indefinitely" and the Government responded, to questions from VOX, that it is subject to the evolution of the pandemic. In April, the national deputy of VOX for Ceuta, Teresa López, demanded that the Government clarify if the OPE 2020 was going to be carried out and, if efforts had been made with the countries of origin, what have been the results so far.
However, the Government, again, does not respond and merely points out that from the Ministry of the Interior “there is a permanent follow-up of the circumstances that could affect the development of plans such as Operation Crossing the Strait (OPE), with the purpose of scheduling its execution -if appropriate- within the framework of concurrent realities at the time of the scheduled dates ”. Lastly, he says that "the technical measures that would be necessary to carry out the operation are being evaluated, which are subject to the evolution of the current health crisis and to the decision to carry it out, or not, to carry it out."
Given the lack of specification, López requires the government to be clear and asks "when do you plan to announce whether or not the Operation will be canceled in its usual format" and if it is considering "arbitrating another modality". In addition, it asks for information on whether the Executive is "holding talks with the countries of origin of the people who participate in the OPE each year to cooperate and prevent the operation from taking place in 2020."
Finally, the VOX Parliamentary Group calls on the Government to rule on whether the OPE will condition the opening of current maritime conditions in the Strait of Gibraltar and, in that case, "with what limitations and safety and sanitary measures "
