<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, confirmed on Wednesday that on Tuesday there was “the first official passage of goods” from Melilla and Ceuta to Morocco and assured that both countries are working “together” so that there is “no turning back”.</strong></h4> “I confirm that yesterday there was the first official passage of goods from Melilla to Morocco and, for the first time in history, a passage of goods from Ceuta to Morocco”, Albares told the press from Paris. “The customs, both Spanish and Moroccan, continue to work together today with total normality so that these passages of goods continue through the customs of Ceuta, for the first time in history, and Melilla and so that it will be like this from now on and without any turning back”, he added. Specifically, two passages of goods (refrigerators and washing machines) have already been registered through the customs of Melilla since Tuesday by the same businessman, according to the local newspaper ‘El Faro de Melilla’. This is the third shipment from Melilla in 2025, after the Quiles agency managed the first shipment - with household appliances and household goods - in almost seven years on January 15. Morocco closed the Beni Enzar customs office on August 1, 2018. On the other hand, Morocco authorized on Tuesday the entry of a truck with goods from Ceuta, so the first commercial shipment between the autonomous city and the Moroccan country could be carried out through the Tarajal customs office, the first in the history of the autonomous city. The opening of the customs office is one of the highlights of the joint declaration signed on April 7, 2022 in Rabat by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and King Mohamed VI, after the surprising decision of the Spanish Executive to recognize the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara, which marked a reversal of Spain's traditional position on this issue and allowed a new period to open in bilateral relations. After carrying out three pilot tests throughout 2023, Spain and Morocco reached an agreement for the first passage of goods to take place on January 8, but the process was ultimately frustrated after two vehicles loaded with products from Spain were forced by the Rabat authorities to turn back, once they had crossed the two borders, for alleged technical reasons. Just a week later, Albares acknowledged in a press conference that the governments of Spain and Morocco had hoped to be able to officially open the border crossings of Ceuta and Melilla on January 8, but finally determined that there was still “work to be done” to solve possible “technical problems”. In the case of Ceuta, there was a second shipment of goods on January 15, which was successful, and a third on January 16, which was also frustrated.
