The date of the reopening of the customs office in Melilla – closed in 2018 – and the opening of another in Ceuta, as stated in the new road map that Spain and Morocco sealed, is still unknown. The countries still do not agree, despite the fact that yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, affirmed from Rabat that the bilateral relationship “had never been as intense and as fruitful as now”.
The opening of customs is still the main obstacle in the road map, despite the fact that the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced it as a great achievement in exchange for Spain’s historic turn over the Sahara.
Albares, after meeting with the Moroccan counterpart, wanted to make it clear that from Spain “everything is ready”, that no more pilot tests are necessary. Three tests have been done. Meanwhile, Morocco alleged “technical problems”.
The reopening of the customs office in Melilla and the creation of one in Ceuta – one of the great desires of the autonomous city – would allow the regularization of goods traffic with Morocco, which no one doubts would be fruitful for the economy and the ‘ occupation on both sides of the border. However, the existence of a customs house has an enormous symbolic burden. Morocco, although implicitly, would recognize the Spanish sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla; two cities that Rabat refers to as “Moroccan cities” or “occupied presidia”. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Alawite kingdom, Nasser Burita, dismissed the issue with a “it is not a political problem”, but without specifying anything else.
Before meeting with his counterpart, Albares had a meeting – which was not on the agenda – with the Moroccan Prime Minister, Aziz Akhannuix. According to sources close to the meeting, which lasted half an hour, the two addressed different aspects of bilateral relations, particularly migration and economic issues, also on the joint organization of the 2030 World Cup by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Both celebrated “the quality of the bilateral relationship, based on good neighborliness, mutual trust and permanent and constructive dialogue” during the new stage that began in April 2022, after a diplomatic crisis that lasted 15 months .
The most critical moments were experienced in May 2021: in response to the reception in Spain of the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Gali, more than 8,000 people crossed the Ceuta border in the face of the permissiveness of the gendarmes. In the same month, Pedro Sánchez’s mobile phone was infected with Pegasus. The author of the attack is unknown.
In the new stage, as Morocco pointed out yesterday, there are no “unilateral measures” or “any kind of surprise action”, but everything is resolved through dialogue and cooperation. The neighboring countries yesterday wanted to show off the honeymoon they are still in, describing the relationship as “excellent”. They had an impact on migration and the fight against people-trafficking mafias. Albares reported that there has been “a small increase” in the arrivals of immigrants from Morocco, despite the fact that it was less important because the reference is from last year, in which there were “very low numbers”. It is true that this year the statistics of irregular entries have been reversed: the majority of people arriving on the Canary coast are young Senegalese. And it is in Senegal – together with Mauritania – where Albares will be today to discuss with his counterparts the phenomenon of migration in the face of instability in the Sahel.
The day in Rabat ended with a meeting between Spanish and Moroccan businessmen with the aim of analyzing development challenges and commercial exchanges between the two countries. Minister Albares reported that commercial exchanges between Spain and Morocco set a record in 2022, so that they exceeded 20 billion euros “with double-digit growth”, adding that in 2023 they expect to break a another record
