Melilla’s Economy Struggles as Morocco Keeps Commercial Border Closed

The merchants of Melilla can no longer stand the closure of the commercial customs, despite the normalization of relations between Spain and Morocco in April and the reopening of the land borders between the two countries on May 17. For the moment, there is no prospect of reopening these customs unilaterally closed since August 2018 by Morocco.

The warehouses and shops of Melilla are desperately closed. Yet the joint declaration sanctioning the meeting of Pedro Sanchez with Mohammed VI in Rabat on April 7 spoke of a "complete normalization of the movement of people and goods, including appropriate customs control arrangements and people on land and sea", recalls El Confidencial.

The closure of commercial customs has had devastating effects on merchants, especially those who lived directly from trade with Morocco. Most have closed their shops, assures the Association of Merchants of Melilla (ACSEMEL), specifying that the traveler regime adopted by Morocco since the reopening does not facilitate the traffic of goods either, because any product purchased in Melilla cannot enter Morocco.

Khalid Saïd, spokesman for ACSEMEL, denounces the "totally disastrous" situation experienced by the merchants. A situation that is not "normal", according to Enrique Alcoba, president of the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Melilla who calls on the Spanish authorities to "put pressure on Morocco" for reciprocity in trade.