Moroccan Border Closure Leaves Ceuta and Melilla Domestic Workers Jobless

A woman who requested anonymity recounts that she had gone home near the fence with Melilla when her nephew informed her by phone that Morocco "was closing its borders with Spain for 14 days" to limit the spread of the coronavirus on its territory. Four months later, she is still stuck in Morocco.

On the other side of the fence, another woman, who also requested anonymity, says she has been unemployed since the state of emergency was declared. Employed in a house in Melilla, her contract has been suspended, but she continues to receive her monthly salary of 700 euros, the only income for the family.

The two women are cross-border domestic workers, a sector hard hit by the Covid-19 crisis in Ceuta and Melilla. Their cross-border status makes them particularly vulnerable and prevents them from benefiting from subsidies granted to sectors affected by the crisis such as construction and hotels.

"This is the most unfair situation on the labor scene in Melilla and the rest of Spain," says Francisco Díaz, general secretary of the UGT in Melilla, who recalls that respectively 91% and 94% of domestic workers in Melilla and Ceuta are Moroccan women. "Spain has a reciprocity agreement on social security with Portugal, France, Andorra... but not with Morocco," continues the trade unionist for whom it is impossible to apply unemployment benefits to Moroccan cross-border workers.

Cross-border workers in Ceuta and Melilla have certain facilities to obtain a contract and manage their work permit as foreigners. On the other hand, they cannot spend the night on Spanish territory and therefore cannot apply for a residence permit.

On July 8, Morocco decreed the opening of ports and airports to Moroccan travelers from Europe, with the exception of the Spanish ports of Ceuta and Melilla. A decision that is not appreciated by the woman stuck in Morocco who is waiting for this opening to reunite with her family.