Police officers with firearms at the Cádiz Station and soldiers with batons in Ceuta?

The situation created by the migratory invasion of Ceuta is giving rise to paradoxes from the institutions in charge of our security.

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Army deployment in Ceuta: without ammunition and with orders to 'dialogue' and 'not use force'

In the last few hours, we have received news of a new attack by Moroccan illegal immigrants against Spanish soldiers in Ceuta, specifically on Chorrillo beach. One of the soldiers was injured and required medical attention. According to a local media outlet, El Faro de Ceuta, the agents and personnel deployed in the area "have warned that the clashes are increasing in intensity, a situation that worries the security forces due to the risk it poses both to the personnel themselves and to other people in the vicinity." El Mundo has reported that today's attack "did not escalate because a patrol from the Rapid Action Group (GAR) of the Civil Guard was passing by at that moment", whose Officers arrested four of the attackers. The injured man, who sustained minor injuries, is a sergeant.

On August 1st, I already pointed out here that our soldiers in Ceuta are only armed with batons, despite the fact that Spain has been at a level 4 anti-terrorism alert for years. That same day I commented that, due to this situation, police officers and Civil Guards are armed at airports, and not only with batons, but also with firearms, not only as a deterrent, but also to allow them to properly repel attacks of a certain severity.

This morning, the Ministry of Defense published this message with three photos: "Another day, thanks to the military personnel who work with professionalism, rigor, and closeness to the residents of Ceuta. You are an example of dedication, willingness, and service." I want to draw attention to what we see in the photos of this message:

In this first photo we can see two soldiers from the "Montesa" Cavalry Regiment No. 3, wearing black berets, next to the Mercadona hypermarket located on Avenida del Teniente General Muslera, in northern Ceuta. The two soldiers are only equipped with batons.

In this other photo we see three soldiers from the 2nd Tercio "Duque de Alba" of the Legion, patrolling along Martínez Catena Avenue, next to Tarajal Beach, near the border. The soldiers are only armed with batons. No pistols or assault rifles are visible.

In the third photo we see two more legionnaires from the "Duque de Alba" Tercio. If I'm not mistaken, they are patrolling one of the streets in the San José neighborhood. As in the previous cases, they are only armed with batons.

The curious thing is that this very morning, the National Police published this message on Twitter, aimed at travelers passing through train stations, bus stations, or airports in Spain. The message states: "You can also find us there, close to you, so your journey begins or ends #safely". The photo was taken at Cádiz Station (we can see a Renfe train in the background). In this photo, we see two officers: the one on the left is carrying a pistol and a 5.56 mm Heckler & Koch G36C carbine (the shorter-barreled version of the G36 assault rifle used by the Spanish Armed Forces). The officer on the right is only seen with a baton, but he was surely also carrying his regulation pistol on the right side of his belt.

This isn't a recent photo: it was already published by the National Police 10 years ago. However, finding armed police officers in Spanish stations has been commonplace for years. Although the photo isn't recent, this is the image the National Police projects today of security at major transport hubs: police officers with firearms. This is normal in a country that is on level 4 anti-terrorism alert. What is not normal is that our soldiers are only armed with batons in Ceuta in the face of an "attack on the territorial integrity of a Spanish city", which is how the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, described the migratory invasion of Ceuta from Morocco during his visit to that city on July 31, a few hours before going on vacation as if this were a normal situation.