Ceuta: a gate installed by Morocco triggers a border dispute
A new gate installed by Morocco at Tarajal has sparked a battle of competing accounts in Spain. Police sources insist that it is located on Spanish territory, while Pedro Sánchez’s government claims exactly the opposite.
The installation was revealed by ABC and detailed this Wednesday, September 9, by La Gaceta. The gate was reportedly installed in early August, a few days after the 72,000 crossings recorded into Ceuta at the end of July.
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Since then, Moroccan agents have controlled this crossing, which is used in particular by people who entered Ceuta during the crisis and then return to Morocco.
For the police, it is Spanish; for Moncloa, it is Moroccan
Spanish police officers interviewed by ABC claim that the gate was built in an area legally belonging to Spain. According to them, Madrid had installed its fence back from the actual boundary, leaving a strip often described in Ceuta as a “no man’s land.”
They believe that Morocco gradually took control of this area until it installed its own gate there.
The Spanish government defends the opposite version. Sources at Moncloa maintain that the land is Moroccan and that no part of Spanish territory has been occupied.
According to the government, Rabat simply added a fence equipped with a gate to better control the border and organize the return to Morocco of people leaving Ceuta.
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The controversy comes as the Spanish courts have just opened an investigation into a possible “hybrid war” scenario during the mass crossings in July. The possible responsibility of the Moroccan authorities nevertheless remains to be established.
