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full screenMoroccan border guards at the border with the Spanish exclave of Ceuta. Archive image. Photo: AP/TT
Formerly deep conflicts between the former colonial power Spain and Morocco over the exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the Mediterranean coast can be resolved – through a deal on trade.
But the first attempt at goods transport failed.
A government official for Spain says a “new era” is in store after a deal on trade and customs rules on Thursday. The agreement meant that for the first time since 2018, goods could be brought across the border from Ceuta to Morocco. Previously, only passenger traffic was allowed to cross the border.
But the truck with electrical products was not allowed to leave the goods in Morocco, but was forced to return with a full load to Ceuta. Spain’s representative in Melilla and Ceuta, Sabrina Moh, said it was due to “technical issues” and that practical trade barriers must be resolved gradually.
Morocco allowed the reopening of the border crossings in 2022 after Spain, among other things, backed a Moroccan proposal The future of Western Sahara – another conflict area on the North African coast.
The controversy over the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara prompted Morocco to close all border crossings to Melilla and Ceuta in 2018.
The small territories of Ceuta and Melilla constitute the EU’s only actual external land border in Africa.