Melilla Border Tensions Rise as Spain Resists Pressure to Reopen Crossings

To make themselves heard, the protesters - most of whom are Moroccans - supported by the Party of the Alliance for Melilla, the organization "Adelante Melilla", the Islamic Committee of Melilla, as well as the "Rashtro" merchants’ association, are organizing a sit-in this Sunday, April 17, in front of the headquarters of the Spanish government delegation. A demonstration that the Union of Islamic Associations of Melilla has refused to participate in, as a religious holiday (Easter, NOTE) is being celebrated that day. It has, in a statement, stressed "the need for religious and sectarian respect for the different sects that make up the city of Melilla".

The protest demonstrations have provoked reactions from Sabrina Moh, the representative of the Spanish government in the autonomous city. "What I will guarantee to the inhabitants of Melilla is that the plan of the central government is in the general interest of the city and within the framework of joint and coordinated action," she wrote on her Twitter account, adding that the pressures and threats will not change what the executive has planned and will not divert it from the set objective.