and three pilot tests, Morocco’s obstacles have frustrated this Wednesday the opening of the commercial customs of Ceuta and Melilla. The two trucks that have crossed the land border of the two Spanish cities with the neighboring country have been returned by the Moroccan authorities, who have alleged “technical problems”, according to sources familiar with the operation.
Around 10 in the morning, a van loaded with appliances arrived at the Beni Enzar border crossing in Melilla. The first obstacle it encountered was that the Moroccan authorities claimed not to have received the corresponding notification from their superiors in Rabat. Once this obstacle was overcome, the customs officers of the neighboring country indicated that the vehicle was not suitable for transport, so the entire shipment had to be transferred to a truck. Finally, given the late hour, the vehicle had to turn around. In the case of Ceuta, the shipment of personal hygiene products arrived at the El Tarajal border post around 3 p.m., but it has not been able to fulfill its mission due to the obstacles of the Moroccan customs officers.
The sources consulted have explained that the Moroccan authorities had all the necessary documentation in advance, from the characteristics of the exported merchandise to the models and license plates of the vehicles used for transport. However, due to internal coordination problems in Morocco or a lack of will, it has not been possible to make deliveries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in contact throughout the day with the Government delegates in Ceuta and Melilla, Cristina Pérez and Sabrina Moh, has maintained caution throughout the day and has not confirmed the opening of the two customs offices. commercial, waiting for Morocco to confirm the acceptance of the cargo in the established control centers (one in the economic activity zone of Fnideq, former Castillejos, for Ceuta; and another in the port of Beni Enzar, for Melilla), which has not occurred.
The opening of a customs office in Ceuta – which has never existed – and the reopening of the one in Melilla – closed unilaterally and without prior notice by Rabat in August 2018 – was pending since April 7, 2022, and included the opening of customs in the roadmap of their future relations. It was the main counterparty obtained by the Government of Pedro Sánchez after abandoning traditional Spanish neutrality and starting to support the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara.
The agreement to reopen customs has caused a strong controversy in Melilla, since the agreed regime initially only allows the passage of one truck per day with a list of valued products, while the city Executive, in the hands of the PP, has warned that it will not “give its approval” to the measure “if it is not produced on an equal footing” with any other Spanish territory “as a Spanish and European city”; while complaining about the lack of information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Government delegate has called for calm and has described the statements of the president of Melilla, Juan José Imbroda, as “inflammatory”. The Ceuta Executive, also in the hands of the PP, has been more cautious, not wanting to speak out until it had all the information and has warned that customs “is not the solution for the economic future of Ceuta.”
The agreement, to whose main lines EL PAÍS has had access, contemplates that in a first phase only one truck per day will circulate through each customs post in each direction. They will be non-articulated trucks (without a trailer) and vans or containers will not be accepted. Customs will open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and will be closed on holidays in either country.
The agreement includes the list of products that will be exchanged through the two commercial customs. Spain will import fresh products from Morocco, such as fruits, legumes and fish, as well as aggregates; while it will export hygiene and cleaning products, household appliances and electronics. It is not clear under what terms the traveler regime will remain, since the Moroccan authorities now do not allow those who cross the border to carry with them anything acquired on the other side.
On the 2nd, after learning that the Government Delegation in Melilla had contacted several businessmen to prepare the first shipments, the president of the autonomous city, the popular Juan José Imbroda, spoke out against the agreement, alleging that “trade “The local area would not benefit at all and Melilla would lose sovereignty, since the measures would be considered typical of just another region of Morocco.” Imborda assured that, while Morocco could sell the products it wanted to Melilla, “Melilla merchants could not sell imported products, only those manufactured in Melilla; that is, none.” Sources familiar with the negotiation deny this point and assure that, although the Moroccan side raised it at the time, the Spanish side rejected it outright.
Subsequently, Imbroda insisted that customs must be opened “100 percent,” as it worked before 2018, since one truck a day in each direction “does not mean free trade.” The College of Customs Agents and Customs Representatives of Melilla has also requested “the full normalization of commercial exchanges, with absolute commercial freedom in customs, as well as demanding the traveler regime in both directions.”
The agreement has a political significance that goes far beyond the purely commercial. The regularization of the transit of goods with Ceuta and Melilla not only means leaving behind the dramatic scenes of the queues of porters at the border – which on more than one occasion led to fatal accidents – but has also been interpreted as an implicit recognition of the Spanishness of both cities, which in Morocco are still classified as “occupied prisons.”
generated by the fact that Rabat does not recognize the Spanish sovereignty of both, the Moroccan fear that land customs will compete with the neighboring ports of Tangier Med, one of the ports with the highest container traffic in the world, and Beni Enzar -Nador, which is being expanded with funding from the EU and France.
According to the agreement, only companies active in the sectors corresponding to the exported products will be able to trade. The passage of the goods will be subject to prior notification that will include the driver and vehicle data. Customs fees will depend on the origin of the product. Shipments of fresh products must be homogeneous (different products cannot be mixed in a single shipment) and be pre-packaged by establishments authorized by the Moroccan health authority.
Sources familiar with the negotiations explain that the agreement was reached in the last quarter of last year and since then the technical details of its execution have been finalized, which was initially scheduled for January 2, 2025. During these two and eight years In the last few months, there have been three pilot tests (the last one in May 2023), a multitude of technical meetings and an intense exchange of letters, although the deadlines set by the Spanish authorities were never met.
In December 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and on the Spanish side everything was already ready. Still, we have had to wait more than a year since then.
to the point where the Moroccan customs director, Abdelatif Amrani, came to describe the calendar proposed by Spain as “premature”, according to a letter dated February 14, 2023 to which EL PAÍS has had access. The letter, sent after the second pilot test, reiterated Moroccan commitment to opening them, but requested that the third pilot test scheduled for the following day be postponed until “technical issues” were resolved.
“Discreet” diplomacy
The drawbacks of Rabat were not revealed in the public statements of the Spanish authorities. Just 13 days after that letter, which represented a brake on Spanish plans, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, referred in Congress to the “result of discreet, patient diplomatic work, not in keeping with the times of Twitter.” . The minister has also maintained during this time that the roadmap agreed between the two countries was being followed, but that he would not make public the deadlines with which they were working due to “security issues.” In May 2023,
The negotiation, marked by some long silences, has not been easy and the Spanish interlocutors themselves have come to doubt that they would ever achieve their objective. They conveyed distrust that Morocco had any real interest in fulfilling its part of the deal. Moroccan sources, however, point out to EL PAÍS that this has been a complex process that has not only required the adjustment of technical issues, but also changes in legislation.
