Join on WhatsApp 
Join on Telegram By Jamal Saidi
Morocco World News
Casablanca, September 8, 2012
The economic crisis in Spain manifests itself in Ceuta where unemployment among Moroccans reached 60 per cent, a figure that marks the highest rate in the history of the enclave, the daily Al Massae reported on Tuesday.
Affected by the crisis, Moroccans are very much concerned about their inability to meet their monthly mortgage payment. Worse yet, many of them live in crammed apartments, receiving up to 15 persons at once in attempt to reduce life expenses.
On Friday August 31, the municipality of Ceuta launched a plan aiming at fighting the crammed apartments, saying it is a sort of “fraud”. It pointed out that the majority of those who live in such apartments reside in Tetouan or the neighboring cities. “This kind of residency is just a means used by these people to justify their presence in the city in order to obtain allowances from the local government,” the municipality added.
According to the newspaper, a number of Moroccans sent their wives and children to the neighboring city of Tetouan in a bid to face unemployment. Others had to seek daily meals from charity associations. “Nobody likes to go to a charity on daily basis, but we have no other choice,” a Moroccan husband said.
It is worth recalling that the occupied city of Ceuta gets many forms of financial support from the central government in Madrid due to its fragile economy based mainly on contraband.
Ceuta and Melilla are two Spanish enclaves located in northern Morocco. They have always been on the agenda of the relations between Morocco and Spain. While Madrid claims its sovereignty over these two enclaves, Rabat considers them as an anachronism of the past and calls on the Spanish government to open a dialogue over their future.
