The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, visited yesterday the Autonomous City of Ceuta, whose President, Juan Vivas, urged him to achieve “the satisfactory completion of the process of implementation, orderly and gradual, of the commercial customs” with Morocco and to maintain “permanently” the visa to access from Morocco through the Tarajal border.
Pedro Sánchez visited Ceuta, accompanied by the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, to inaugurate the Tarajal Health Center and to underline his “commitment” to quality public healthcare. “The Government is going to continue working at the service of Spain, promoting what this center represents: a modern, dignified public healthcare system, with resources and present throughout the national territory,” he added.
During the event, the President of Ceuta asked Pedro Sánchez to promote the Integral Plan, “so that the forecasts are fulfilled”, especially with regard to healthcare, and highlighted the importance of this third visit by the head of the Executive, who “comes to Ceuta as normal as to any other part of the territory”. “We will never forget your first visit, that of May 18, 2021”, after a massive entry of migrants that caused the biggest diplomatic crisis with Morocco in many years, “to make it clear, where and when it was appropriate, that our sovereignty does not admit any doubt and that it is guaranteed by the constitutional order and the State, regardless of political colors”, he added.
“From institutional loyalty”, Juan Vivas urged Sánchez to “culminate the process of operation of the border, which benefits Ceuta so much”, including “the permanent maintenance of the visa to access Spain through the Tarajal border” and the “satisfactory completion” of the process of implementation, “orderly and gradual”, of the commercial customs “with the only limitations of law enforcement and logistics”.
The Government of Ceuta has repeatedly defended the permanent maintenance of the visa requirement through the Tarajal crossing, in order to improve the control of people entering the Autonomous City. Vivas himself conveyed this request in person to the Minister of the Presidency, Felix Bolaños, last November. “Normalization is achieved by requiring a visa for those who want to access, regardless of other reasons,” the Ceutí president told the press. The current restrictions have been regularly ratified in the BOE, but Ceuta’s wish is that they remain “stable”.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, discussed last February 13 in Madrid with Juan Vivas and the President of Melilla, Eduardo de Castro, the “gradual and orderly opening of commercial customs” in compliance with the road map with Morocco and the conclusions of the last Spanish-Moroccan High Level Meeting (RAN, by its Spanish acronym), held last February 1 and 2 in Rabat.
The RAN took place a few days after the realization, as a “pilot test”, of the first commercial expedition through the customs offices of Ceuta and Melilla, the first step towards the reestablishment of customs controls in Melilla, paralyzed since October 2018, and the establishment, for the first time, of a customs office in Ceuta. Last February 23, new crossings of goods through the customs offices of Ceuta and Melilla were carried out in compliance with the timetable set by the two countries.
