The Spanish Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has reaffirmed that Ceuta and Melilla "are cities as Spanish" as Bilbao, Madrid, Granada or any other city on the peninsula and the islands.
Spain plans to install an automated entry and exit control system (EES) at the Melilla border with Morocco. It should be operational in 2023.
Former Spanish minister María Antonia Trujillo has reiterated her position on Ceuta and Melilla, and stated that "freedom of expression and information is more protected in Morocco than in Spain".
Hundreds of migrants, mostly Sudanese, have been arriving in towns near Nador in recent days to try to enter Melilla. Moroccan security forces dismantled their base on Mount Gourougou, near the autonomous city, on Saturday.
The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, clarified his country’s position on the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, stating on Thursday before Congress that these two territories definitively belong to Spain.
In a letter addressed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Morocco reiterates its claims on Ceuta and Melilla.
The Spanish police have arrested four people in Melilla for labor exploitation of an irregular Moroccan girl in Spain. The young girl was forced to do domestic chores for nearly three years.
The president of Unitaxi Melilla, Mohamed Lamrani, denounced the attitude of Moroccan customs officials who do not allow Melilla taxis to enter Morocco, while they have authorized vehicles from France or Andorra to cross during the Marhaba Operation.
One of the suspects arrested last Tuesday by the Spanish police, in collaboration with the Central Office of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), in Melilla and Nador, is an imam.
Morocco is preparing to reactivate the exploitation of the mines of the Rif, historical deposits of iron, lead and other ores, located in the vicinity of Nador, on the border of Melilla, after nearly 40 years of inactivity.
A security operation jointly carried out by the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) and the General Intelligence Directorate of the Spanish National Police , led to the dismantling of a terrorist cell active in Nador and Melilla. It would have links with the Islamic State .
The Popular Party (PP) is skeptical about the announcement made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, regarding the reopening in January 2023 of the commercial customs of Melilla with Morocco and the creation of a new customs office in Ceuta.