Ceuta

Articles

• Hundreds of Migrants Attempt Border Crossing into Spanish Enclave Ceuta, Clashes with Moroccan Forces
  20 January 2020, by Bladi.net

  Some 400 sub-Saharan illegal immigrants attempted, this Sunday, a collective assault on the city of Ceuta, via the border post of Belyounech, before being repelled by the Moroccan public forces.
  According to the local authorities of the province of Mdiq-Fnideq, the foiling of this forced crossing operation resulted in 24 injured among the public forces and some illegal immigrants, who were transferred to the hospitals of Fnideq and Mdiq, to receive the necessary care.
  The public forces (…)

• Moroccan Goalkeeper’s Claim on Ceuta and Melilla Sparks Controversy in Spain
  12 December 2022, by Ginette

  In the fever of celebrating Morocco’s qualification, Moroccan goalkeeper Munir El Kajoui made statements that are at the heart of a controversy in Spain.
  Munir El Kajoui declared during a live on Selim Amallah’s Instagram account that "Sebta and Melilla belong to Morocco." Many Spanish Internet users did not appreciate this statement on the Moroccanness of Sebta and Melilla.
  These remarks were picked up by several Spanish media, which recall that the player was born in Melilla and (…)

• Morocco Relocates 500+ Stranded Camper Van Travelers to Temporary Housing Site
  29 March 2020, by Sylvanus

  In the absence of a repatriation proposal, it was decided to transfer the over 500 camper van travelers and their occupants stranded in Bab Sebta to Ksar Sghir.
  Ksar Sghir will serve as a temporary housing location for the camper van travelers, reports L’Économiste. To this end, sales areas will be set up for food and basic necessities, as well as showers and other amenities. Last August, the commune of Ksar Sghir was to welcome Moroccans residing abroad (MREs) after being renovated. (…)

• Vox Leader Urges EU Action on Morocco Border Amid Ceuta Migration Surge
  28 May 2021, by Prince

  Faced with the migrant "invasion" of Ceuta, the president of the Spanish far-right party Vox, Santiago Abascal, calls on the European Union to take responsibility for protecting and defending its border with Morocco.
  On a European tour, Abascal, accompanied by the head of the Vox delegation to the European Parliament, Jorge Buxadé, exchanged in Budapest with the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, on the migration crisis in Ceuta. On this occasion, the president of Vox expressed his (…)

• Spain Holds Military Drills in Melilla Amid Tensions with Morocco
  23 January, by Prince

  Spain has been conducting military exercises in Melilla for a few days in order to fend off any possible attack from Morocco, which maintains its claims on Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the Spanish islands and rocks.
  According to the general command of Melilla, the soldiers of the second company of the first legion of the Tercio "Gran Capitan" carried out maneuvers in the autonomous city in order to prepare to face "any situation". As for the soldiers of the first company, they underwent (…)

• Nearly Half of Migrants Face Violence While Transiting Through Morocco, Study Finds
  23 April 2019, by Amine

  The passage of nearly half of illegal migrants through Morocco would not leave good memories, according to a report published by the Spanish agency CSIC (Higher Council for Scientific Research), done in collaboration with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees).
  According to 2017 figures, while 92% of people who reached Spain passed through Morocco, 48% said they had been victims of violence there, especially around Ceuta and Melilla.
  The CSIC writes: "These allegations (…)

• Moroccan Resident of Spain Caught Smuggling 39,000 Euros at Ceuta Border
  19 May 2019, by Said

  A new attempt at currency trafficking at the border post of Bab Sebta, where a Moroccan residing in Spain was arrested as he was trying to cross customs to go to Europe with the sum of 39,000 euros.
  A customs source cited by 2M indicates that the customs officers discovered this sum that the man had hidden in the dashboard of his car, specifying that the countervalue is estimated at 421,000 dirhams.
  Residing in Spain, the man was handed over to the judicial police of Tetouan who opened (…)

• Moroccan Expat Caught Smuggling $2.7 Million in Foreign Currency at Ceuta Border
  20 December 2019, by Bladi.net

  Significant sums of foreign currency, estimated at more than 25 million dirhams, were seized at the Bab Sebta crossing point on Wednesday, December 18, 2019.
  A check by the customs services at the Bab Sebta crossing point made it possible to thwart a foreign exchange trafficking operation. According to a customs source quoted by the Map, the operation led to the seizure of 17,264,600 Danish kroner and 120,180 Swiss francs, i.e. an estimated value of 25.915 million dirhams, hidden in a (…)

• Moroccan Merchants Devise New Trade Route to Bypass Ceuta Border Closure
  25 February 2020, by Bladi.net

  An alternative has been found by the inhabitants of Tetouan to cope with the closure of the Ceuta border to cross-border trade on the Moroccan side. A system is underway for the transit of goods from this enclave, through the port of Tangier.
  The group that had the idea is made up of merchants from Tetouan. They have already prospected the market as part of the import of non-prohibited local products, via the Tanger Med 2 port, at affordable costs.
  In practice, these goods will be (…)

• Spanish Senate Rejects Teaching of Moroccan Languages in Ceuta and Melilla Schools
  28 December 2020, by Sylvanus

  The dream of the Moroccan community in Spain to see the darija and tamazight languages taught in the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla has evaporated. An amendment to the reform of the national education law aimed at their integration into educational programs was rejected by the Spanish Senate.
  It was by an overwhelming majority of votes (253 out of 262) that the Spanish senators, including those from the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, the Popular Party and the Vox party, rejected the (…)