Spain's Opposition Demands Interior Minister Resign After Officers Killed and Migration Secrecy Row

Resignation Demand Over Officers' Deaths

Popular Party (PP) leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has called for the resignation of Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska following the deaths of two Guardia Civil officers during an anti-drug trafficking operation near Huelva province. The officers were killed when two pursuit vessels collided while chasing suspected narco-traffickers using high-powered speedboats — known as narcolanchas — near the mouth of the Guadalquivir River.

Feijóo accused the government of providing insufficient support to security forces operating in high-risk coastal areas, and held the Interior Minister responsible for what he characterised as a systemic failure of Spain's anti-trafficking strategy.

Migration Transparency Row

The pressure on the Sánchez government does not stop at security. Feijóo has also escalated his criticism over the administration's handling of migrant regularisation plans, promising that a PP government would declassify all government documents related to internal migration discussions.

Feijóo stated that "the public had a right to know the details" of the government's internal discussions on regularisation, framing his commitment to declassification as a matter of democratic transparency. The government recently approved classifying certain internal immigration reports under Spain's Official Secrets Law — a move that drew significant criticism from civil society and opposition parties.

Two Pressure Points for the Government

The Sánchez government now faces simultaneous pressure on two politically charged fronts: the mounting human cost of Spain's fight against narco-trafficking on its southern coastline, and a transparency battle over immigration policy that the opposition is using to frame the administration as secretive and unaccountable.

Interior Minister Grande-Marlaska has not publicly responded to the resignation demand. The PP's push for accountability comes at a time when drug trafficking operations off Spain's Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines remain an active and dangerous front-line challenge for law enforcement.

This article is based on reporting from Euro Weekly News, published May 9, 2026.