Spain and Morocco meet in Madrid to discuss land borders
On Tuesday, high-level Moroccan and Spanish delegations will meet in Madrid to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries. At the heart of the discussions are Sebta and Melilla and the process of reopening the borders.
While the reopening of the land borders with the two enclaves has reached its second phase, after having reopened for people with valid residence permits and visas and then for border workers, problems still remain unresolved.
The authorities of the two countries are making sure to reopen their borders in a more fluid and standardized way, while leaving the pre-covid framework and the habits of yesteryear. For Morocco, it is a question of no longer authorizing the contraband trade which was literally done on the backs of old women who crossed the two territories on foot carrying heavy packages, and of winning on customs duties.
For Spain, it is a question of setting up commercial customs offices to give a European dimension to these two occupied enclaves, and to make the passage more fluid for people with work permits, and above all to ensure that a new migration crisis, like that of May 2021.
The two high-level delegations will therefore discuss ways to better manage these changes in the process of reopening borders, which means the resumption of the movement of people and goods. This will involve the integration of a customs and traveler control system.
The Spanish side affirmed that this meeting is part of the implementation of the roadmap launched on April 7 on the sidelines of the visit of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, to Morocco at the invitation of King Mohammed VI. Flap.
The question of the installation of commercial customs offices for the two occupied enclaves crystallizes the discussions, on the one hand for their novelty, but on the other hand for purely logistical reasons.
Since the partial reopening of the borders between the two territories, the flow of people and goods is no longer as before and travelers complain of long queues, especially at weekends, in addition to the lack of staff.
Cross-border workers prevented from moving due to restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic are mostly unable to return to work normally due to the expiry of their work permits.
They demonstrated on the first day of the second phase of reopening, May 31, against bureaucracy, complaining of too restrictive and complicated conditions to update their travel documents.
While the official reopening was announced on May 17, the flow of travelers is still very limited and is far from its pre-covid level. Only Moroccans with Schengen visas and Europeans can cross the border.
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