Agadir – Spain’s Health Minister Mónica García has rejected a call by opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo to consider confining people with infectious diseases in Ceuta, arguing that such a measure would be unjustified and could worsen the public health situation.
Feijóo, leader of the conservative People’s Party (PP), called on the Spanish government to consider health restrictions following the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants in Ceuta at the end of July.
In a statement on X, he said that “the Government should study decreeing the confinement of carriers of infectious and contagious diseases for reasons of public health.”
The proposal came amid concerns over reported cases of tuberculosis, scabies, gastroenteritis, and suspected chickenpox in the enclave.
Responding today, García said that confining the migrant population on public health grounds was not supported by the available evidence.
“Declaring the confinement of a specific population group, such as all arrivals between the 30th and 31st to Ceuta, seems unjustified and entirely disproportionate if the justification put forward is public health reasons,” García said.
She added that such a measure “could be counterproductive,” arguing that public health restrictions must correspond to the way diseases are transmitted and that confinement could ultimately cause “more harm than benefit” to public health.
Minister challenges Feijóo’s health claims
García also challenged the health figures cited by Feijóo, who pointed to tuberculosis, chickenpox, scabies, and gastroenteritis.
Regarding tuberculosis, the minister said three cases had been confirmed in Ceuta. According to García, one person had already arrived while receiving treatment and was not contagious, another had cerebral tuberculosis, which she described as non-contagious, while the third case involved a person who had already been in Ceuta and had been undergoing diagnosis before the recent migration crisis.
She said that, since the closure of the border in 2020, Ceuta had recorded around 90 tuberculosis cases, compared with approximately 20,000 across Spain.
On chickenpox, García said three suspected cases had been detected. One, linked to Operation Paso del Estrecho, was ruled out, while the other two remained under diagnostic assessment and, according to the minister, were not connected to the migrant population or to each other.
Regarding scabies, García cited a 2025 study published in Eurosurveillance, saying that the disease was more common in Spain than previously thought. She said 1,529 outbreaks involving 11,301 cases were recorded nationwide between 2021 and 2023.
On gastroenteritis, García disputed the figure of 450 cases cited by Feijóo, saying health authorities were dealing with around 55 probable cases of enteroinvasive E. coli. She said the outbreak had been controlled and linked it particularly to the consumption of water unfit for human consumption in Ceuta.
“The fundamental thing in this case and the most urgent is to house the people and provide them with basic hygiene and sanitation conditions, ensuring potable water, access to hygiene measures, and decent food,” she said.
According to the minister, improving these conditions would address most of the factors that could contribute to disease outbreaks.
