Spain’s North African Enclaves Report Worsening Economies

Denver- Spain’s territorial holdings in North Africa are reporting a substantial economic downturn resulting in  skyrocketing unemployment rates.

Both Ceuta and Melilla reported this negative trend, with unemployment rates reported to sit at 30% and 20% of the respective cities’ population. The downward trend is reported to be due to increasing restrictions on goods transported across the border from the cities into Morocco. With little natural resources or specialized industries, many residents of Ceuta and Melilla are dependent on this illicit trade to provide for themselves and their families.  

This transportation has historically been a bustling trade, and a significant portion of the income generated by residences of both territories. These transnational workers, mostly women, were paid to transport goods shipped into Melilla and Ceuta by hand into Morocco, avoiding the much higher import taxes of shipping goods directly into Morocco or Spain.

However, this economy began to shrink in 2018, with new Moroccan initiatives to tighten border movements within the region. The onset of the COVID pandemic, and worsening Moroccan-Spanish relations, has only caused this issue to be exacerbated. 

While approximately half of the two cities’ residents work for the Spanish government, the remainder are heavily dependent on the goods transportation industry for employment. Now, the current situation has contributed to a scarcity in employment opportunities for the residents of Ceuta and Melila. 

Residents of the cities must now hope for either diplomatic improvements between Morocco and Spain, or inclusion of the territories into the EU’s Customs Union, in order to provide a return of vital income for the people of Ceuta and Melilla.