The Diplomat
The Government has decided to postpone the reopening of the land borders of Ceuta and Melilla for another 15 days in order to “finalise” bilaterally with the Moroccan authorities the “exact details and mechanisms” that will govern the transit of people and goods once the closure decreed more than two years ago, at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, has come to an end.
The order issued by the Ministry of the Interior, which was published yesterday in the Official State Gazette (BOE), states that the extension period will be “only 15 days while the conditions for the orderly and progressive reopening of the land posts are being finalised”. It also states that this is “without prejudice to the possibility of modifying any of the articles before that deadline”, reports Europa Press.
In parallel, and in order to guarantee security needs, the Ministry of the Interior has implemented a reinforcement of police forces in both Ceuta and Melilla. The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, assured this Friday during the inauguration of the new Civil Guard post in San Martín de la Vega (Madrid) that the reopening of the land border would be “imminent”, although without specifying dates.
The current border order expired at midnight yesterday, Saturday 30 April. The Interior Ministry stresses that this order includes all the restrictions that currently apply to Spain’s external land, sea and air borders by virtue of the recommendations of the Council of the European Union on the occasion of the health crisis caused by COVID-19.
The new order issued by the Interior Ministry will take effect from 00:00 on 1 May 2022 until 24:00 on 15 May 2022, “without prejudice to its possible modification to respond to a change in circumstances,” the text states.
During this extension, the Spanish-Moroccan working groups formed for this purpose, in which Spanish government departments with responsibilities in this area participate, will continue their meetings and work to finalise all the details and mechanisms that will govern the reopening of the land borders.
This bilateral work, “which is at a very advanced stage”, according to the Interior Ministry, is designing a reopening that will be “gradual and which will have all the guarantees, both in terms of health and security”.
The working groups have been set up by virtue of the agreement reached by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, with King Mohamed VI within the new stage between the two countries that began with the letter from the Spanish head of government backing the Moroccan plan for Western Sahara.
