Morocco-Ceuta Border Trade Suspended Indefinitely Amid Infrastructure Upgrades

Indeed, recalls La Vanguardia, Spain and Morocco agreed, at the end of June 2019, to cease this cross-border activity for only five days in August, due to the celebration of the patron saint’s festivals of Ceuta and Eid Al Adha.

Circulation was to be restored on September 3, 2019, but the government delegation announced that this would no longer be the case, as it would start "essential comprehensive redevelopment work during the month to be able to carry out the planned investments to convert El Tarajal into a safe border and in line with the needs of the 21st century".

For those who fear for the economy generated by this border trade, the General State Administration specified: "The start of these works will have an influence on the current configuration of the border and more particularly on the system of transporting vehicles, which will not be viable during the execution time of the works".

Moreover, "atypical trade" generates hundreds of millions of euros per year in Ceuta and its weight in the local economy, estimated at a quarter of its GDP, falls into uncertainty, as does this activity that employs several thousand Moroccans.

In recent statements to the media on the concern caused by Morocco’s closure of Melilla’s commercial activities, Juan Vivas, who chairs the Government of the city, stressed, with regard to cross-border trade: it "is a source of economic activity for the city, but it is the neighboring country that benefits the most, both in terms of basic supplies that could hardly be maintained and in the generation of subsistence income". He added: "Morocco has unilaterally taken a negative measure by canceling the commercial customs with Melilla and it was a bad decision on its part".