Ceuta Port Seeks Economic Viability Amid Morocco Border Closure

Despite the reduction in port fees due to the health crisis, the port of Ceuta, as a State port, must continue to fulfill its essential mission, which is to guarantee the free movement of people and goods, under conditions of safety and quality, and in accordance with the legislative and regulatory texts in force.

According to the union, the port system belonging to the State should take the necessary measures to ensure the economic viability of the port of Ceuta. This involves the establishment of an Inter-Port Compensation Fund or another mechanism to recover the loss accounts in order to guarantee the continuity of essential services, while ensuring the preservation of the rights of all workers.

To read: Spain Extends Closure of Ceuta and Melilla Borders with Morocco Until August 31

The critical financial situation of the Port Authorities of Ceuta and Melilla calls for "deep reflection", the UGT stressed last June, requesting a review of the financing of the ports of the two autonomous cities in order to guarantee their economic viability in this particular context of health crisis and closure of borders with Morocco.

"The current port environment, with the existence of a concentration of goods in a small number of ports, requires guaranteeing the cohesion of the port system and avoiding the development of some of them to the detriment of others, while maintaining the financial autonomy of the system and of each port authority," specified the UGT, which suggests amending the port law to allow the Compensation Fund to finance the ports of Ceuta and Melilla or for the latter to be directly financed by the general state budget.

According to data from the State ports, the forecast profitability rates of the port authorities of Ceuta and Melilla for 2020 are -9.67% and -6.86% respectively.