Morocco Briefly Closes Border with Spanish Enclave Ceuta, Causing Traffic Disruption

1 October 2019 – byBladi.net · 1 min read

The Moroccan authorities closed the border with Sebta on Monday, September 30, at noon, for a little over an hour, while several hundred people were waiting to cross.

The decision was made around 12 noon, to prevent any disturbance to public order, leaving vehicles trapped on the Moroccan side unable to access the autonomous city.

However, the closure of one of the border roads also had repercussions on the Spanish side, due to the inability to communicate with the neighboring country.

More than an hour and a half later, around 1:30 p.m., Morocco finally reopened the border crossing.

This is not the first time that Morocco has made such a decision. The Kingdom had tried to curb smuggling with the two Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and suspended legal trade with them. A way to push Madrid to renounce its sovereignty over these territories, claims the website El faro de Ceuta.