After two years of suspension for health and diplomatic crisis reasons, the maritime links between Spain and Morocco resumed on Tuesday, to the great satisfaction of Moroccans living abroad (MRE) , especially in Europe.
Passengers with vehicles will be able to board, starting this Monday, for Tangier from the port of Algeciras. The maritime link between Algeciras and Tangier has resumed on Tuesday last for passengers without vehicles, after two years of suspension.
The first car passengers from Barcelona arrived on Friday, April 15 at the port of Nador, thus marking the effective resumption of maritime passenger traffic with vehicles between Morocco and Spain.
The Port Authority of Malaga is preparing for a Marhaba Operation which, according to it, promises to be "historic" after two years of cancellation due to the health crisis and the diplomatic crisis between Spain and Morocco.
The maritime link between the port of Almeria and that of Nador is fully restored. On Wednesday, 53 passengers and 45 trucks and vans of goods embarked on the Wasa Express ferry of the shipping company Balearia, from the port of Almeria to Nador.
The ports of Algeciras and Tarifa, which concentrate more than 70% of maritime traffic with Moroccan ports, will reap an estimated profit of 500 million euros from this year’s Marhaba Operation.
Even before the announcement of the resumption of maritime passenger traffic with Morocco from Algeciras, the JUPOL police union denounced the lack of personnel to effectively cope with a large influx of Moroccans, at this particular time of the end of Ramadan and the Easter holidays.
Suspended for two years, maritime links between Spain and Morocco resume this Tuesday, with ferries operating the Algeciras-Tangier line. However, Nador and Alhoceima seem to have been forgotten.
After the announcement of the reopening of the maritime borders with Morocco and the "immediate and gradual" return of the suspended maritime passenger traffic since March 2020, the Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) is asking that actions follow words.
The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) plans to meet with shipping companies, representatives of the Moroccan merchant navy and port authorities on Monday to agree on the exact date for the resumption of maritime links with Morocco.
The date of the resumption of maritime links between Spain and Morocco will be known today, at the end of a meeting organized at the port of Algeciras with shipping companies and companies that provide port services as part of passenger traffic.
The port of Tangier city has assured that it is ready to immediately resume maritime passenger traffic with the port of Tarifa.