Madrid – Just when Pedro Sanchez thought he had weathered domestic pressure over Spain’s wild blazes, a shock migrant crisis left him facing political fire from Europe and the United States.

Lacking a majority in parliament and facing elections next year, the 54-year-old Socialist prime minister responded to wildfires near Madrid by appealing for unity in curbing human-driven climate change.

Within days, a fresh political challenge erupted, with tens of thousands of migrants pouring into Spain’s north African territory of Ceuta, alarming his European allies.