Ceuta Poll: Majority Supports Visa Requirement for Moroccan Visitors

According to a survey conducted by GAD3 for El Pueblo, 52% of Ceuta citizens think that the visa requirement should be maintained for all Moroccans wishing to enter the autonomous city. Since the reopening of the Tarajal border with Morocco on May 17, only EU citizens and those holding a Schengen visa are allowed to cross. On the other hand, 44.8%, or 10% more than in September last year when a first poll on the subject was conducted by the same agency, think that residents of Tetouan and Nador should continue to be exempt from visas, as was the case before the border closure.

Even if the population is divided on the issue, the measure has brought about notable changes at the border, with the atypical trade having disappeared and the control of entries and exits being more reinforced. "Today, there is a normalization of the passage of people thanks to this temporary measure, but we are hopeful that the visa requirement will be maintained," Ceuta President Juan Vivas recently declared, insisting on the positive effects of this measure on the autonomous city, particularly in very sensitive areas such as health, education, the economy, traffic on the N-352, etc.

After the migration crisis of May 2021, the city had indicated that "the establishment of a security and stability base for Ceuta requires the need to have a normalized operation of the border, which affected both the transit of people and goods through the establishment of a commercial customs office." A customs office which, for the time being, is not yet a reality, even if Morocco and Spain continue to discuss its feasibility.