Spanish government representative in Ceuta quits over border rush fallout

MADRID, Sept 28 - Spain's representative in its North African enclave of Ceuta resigned on Monday, citing personal reasons after weeks of intense scrutiny over the handling of a border rush involving the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants from Morocco.

The crisis erupted in late July, when more than 72,000 migrants reached Ceuta, overwhelming reception facilities and intensifying debate over migration policy at one of the European Union's two land borders in Africa.

Most of those migrants subsequently left, though thousands of others remain in the self-governing enclave, and the minority leftist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid has struggled to contain the political fallout.

Government Delegate Miguel Angel Perez Triano, who oversaw coordination between the Ceuta government and Spanish state agencies and security forces, defended his handling of the crisis but said the subsequent scrutiny, coupled with what he called a campaign of harassment against him and his family, had become unbearable.

"My family doesn't deserve that I should stay on any longer," he said, citing insults, threats and an instance when somebody left a funeral wreath outside his office.

He said the government delegation had no operational control over the border or security forces and that no information available beforehand indicated that so many migrants would enter the enclave.

The Madrid government has repeatedly said that although it received alerts of possible border crossings, nothing pointed to a rush on the scale ultimately seen in Ceuta.

Spain's High Court is conducting an investigation into the events and is due to hear testimony this week from Perez Triano's former chief of staff.

Speaking to Cope radio station on Monday, Spanish Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres estimated that up to 3,500 migrants remained in Ceuta outside the enclave's reception facilities. REUTERS