This agreement comes after Madrid put an end to almost a year of diplomatic crisis with Rabat by supporting the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
Le Monde
Madrid and Rabat agreed for a “reopening” in the coming days “of the borders between the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and the north of Morocco, closed for two years, announced on Wednesday May 11 Foreign affairs, José Manuel Albares, during a meeting in Marrakech of the coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group (IS). The exact date has not yet been communicated. “The decision is made, but there are still practical aspects” to be resolved, explained Mr. Albares.
These border posts had been closed during the first wave of the COVVI-19 pandemic, in the spring of 2020, then maintained closed due to a diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rabat. These land borders, the only ones between the European Union and Africa, were to reopen “Saturday April 30 at midnight,” said the Spanish interior ministry, but the closure was extended by fifteen days to prepare for reopening, According to the Spanish Official Journal.
This agreement comes after Madrid put an end to almost a year of diplomatic crisis with Rabat, on March 18, when the Spanish government operated on a reversal by publicly supporting the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, A territory disputed with the Sahrawi separatists.
caused by the reception in Spain of the chief of the Sahrawi front of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, to be treated there from the COVID-19, the quarrel between Rabat and Madrid had led to the arrival in May 2021 of more than 10,000 Migrants in Ceuta in twenty-four hours, thanks to a relaxation of the Moroccan side controls.
On this subject, Mr. Albares praised a “70 %” drop in migrant arrivals in the Spanish archipelago of Canaries on Wednesday, located off Morocco, between March-April 2021 and January-February 2022, that ‘It attributes “partly to the collaboration between the police” of the two countries.