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Rabat – Spain and Morocco will meet on Tuesday to discuss the complete reopening of the Moroccan borders with the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
Inter-ministerial delegations from the two countries will meet to discuss the schedule for completing the process of “normalizing the movement of people and goods,” Spanish news outlet El Pais quoted sources from the Spanish government as saying.
The meeting is in line with the joint declaration Madrid and Rabat issued following the visit of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to Morocco.
During his Moroccan visit, the Spanish PM met with King Mohammed VI as part of the two countries’ newfound determination to open a new phase of cooperation to end a year-long diplomatic crisis.
Under the joint declaration, Morocco and Spain agreed to open their borders immediately after the meeting between the King of Morocco and Sanchez.
While Moroccan borders with the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla reopened on May 17, the reopening is taking place gradually.
For now, however, only Spanish citizens and foreigners with a residence permit and a Schengen visa are allowed to access or leave the enclaves.
On May 31, the passage was reopened for cross-border workers in Morocco.
But “almost none [of the workers] were able to go to the Spanish enclaves, since they lacked a visa,” according to El Pais.
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Official sources quoted by the Spanish news outlet did not, however, clarify “whether the schedule to be agreed upon” will include the reopening of the commercial customs office in Melilla or the opening of a commercial customs office in Ceuta that “has never existed until now.”
Moroccan cross-border workers have been protesting near the borders with the Spanish enclaves, asking for the reopening of crossing points that have been closed for over two years due to COVID-19.
In addition to the outbreak of the pandemic, the smuggling of counterfeit goods into Morocco from Ceuta and Melilla is another reason why the North African country decided to close its borders with the two enclaves.
Despite the reopening of borders, the Moroccan government has maintained that the resumption of movement between Morocco and the two enclaves will not reverse its stance on stamping out the smuggling of counterfeits.
