Morocco and Spain’s north African exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla moved closer to a “new era” of normalised trade ties on Thursday after the first passage of goods since 2018.The small Mediterranean coastal territories claimed by Rabat have long complicated Spanish-Moroccan relations and are the European Union’s only land border with Africa.Rabat closed its customs post with Melilla in 2018 against a backdrop of tensions linked to Spain’s refusal to recognise Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony.Both border crossings shut in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic struck and only reopened in 2022 after Madrid backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara.But the Melilla customs post stayed shut due to what Spain called “technical” issues.The Spanish government’s representative in Melilla, Sabrina Moh, announced late on Wednesday that a first batch of goods bound for Morocco had passed the territory’s customs.The delivery of electrical appliances represented “the beginning of a new era” because Melilla will “progressively” be able to trade with Morocco every day, she told reporters on Thursday.A lorry passed a new customs post on Thursday in Ceuta, whose crossing with Morocco previously only involved people and private vehicles rather than commercial transit, the Spanish government’s delegation there told AFP.But the vehicle “could not enter” Morocco and returned to Ceuta without unloading its goods and “technical problems are still being resolved”.”Today we have taken another step in this first phase of the normalisation of goods traffic through the border, which includes multiple preliminary operations,” a spokesman said in a statement.The Spanish and Moroccan governments have provided little information about the opening of the customs posts, but a full normalisation of trade would represent Rabat’s implicit recognition of Madrid’s authority in Ceuta and Melilla.
Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:44:10 GMT
