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By Julia Cabrera
Rabat – After a week being closed, the Tarajal II border gates were re-opened on Monday. While border authorities limited entry to 4,000 porters a day, seeking to avoid large masses and provide greater traffic fluidity, the border continued to receive a massive influx of people.
National and local police, as well as civil guards and private security teams, were at times overwhelmed trying to regulate the flow of porters in the area. Authorities had spread out across the commercial region while gendarmerie on the other side of the gates tried to limit the passage.
“In spite of their efforts, it is visible that this new pathway has not produced the desired results, since it could not manage to fluently absorb the high influx of porters,” said El Pueblo de Ceuta.
Morocco and Spain did not coordinate in the closing and opening of the doors throughout the day, which led to moments where there was a lack of guards at each post. This is what caused the high traffic moments and tension outbreaks during the porters’ passing on Monday.
In moments of overflow, Spanish authorities attempted to regulate the movement of the large mass of porters waiting in line and those that tried to cut ahead.
Monday’s events seem to reinforce the statements of Spanish government representative Nicolás Fernández Cucurull last Thursday. He stated that the solution to this “problem” is to review the exception to the Schengen Agreement and the execution of the agreement between the General State Administration and the autonomous city to regulate trade for the porter’s packages. While Cucurull explained that this solution would require time, he clarified that the interior and foreign affairs ministries have already started working on it.
For the business owners near the border, Cucurull announced last week that they would have to hire private security. The entrepreneurs are not pleased and have organized to meet with the Spanish government representative to discuss the issue.
