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Rabat – The Melilla Assembly has announced its decision to ban Maria Antonia Trujillo, the former Spanish Minister of Housing, from entering Melilla for “denying the Spanishness of the two autonomous cities.”
The committee approved the decision to declare the Spanish politician as “persona non grata” (unwelcome person) for her recent comments in support of Morocco’s historical claims on the two Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
Announcing the Melilla Assembly’s travel ban on Trujillo, the president of the assembly described the former Spanish minister’s recent remarks as an act of “disloyalty” and “contempt for the feelings of the inhabitants of Melilla and Ceuta.”
The decision to prevent Trujillo from entering Melilla was proposed by the city’s presidency before being ratified in an urgent plenary session of the city’s assembly.
The attendees of the extraordinary plenary session unanimously condemned the former minister for questioning “the sovereignty of our two cities, an issue that is not in doubt” for historical, cultural, social, and political reasons.
Read also: El Othmani’s Statement on Ceuta, Melilla Puts Spain on Defensive
Earlier this month, Trujillo, who is also an expert in constitutional law, European law, and Moroccan geography, defended the Moroccaness of the two Spanish enclaves Ceuta and Melilla at a conference in the northern Moroccan city of Tetouan.
“Ceuta and Melilla as well as the rocky outcrops and islets are an affront to the territorial integrity of Morocco. These are remnants of the past that harm the economic and political independence of this country and the good relations between the two countries [Spain and Morocco],” she said.
“The Moroccan claim [over Ceuta and Melilla] is fully justified, as it is instilled in its national ideology and cannot be abandoned,” the Spanish politician added, stressing the urgency of resolving the territorial issue between Morocco and Spain.
Trujillo’s declarations sparked outrage in Spain, prompting several political figures and institutions to strongly condemn her remarks.
