Morocco Open to Establishing Customs with Spanish Enclaves, Official Says

Nabil Lakhdar provided clarifications regarding the opening of customs in Ceuta and Melilla. He had previously stated that the geographical conditions of the two border crossings did not allow for the opening of these customs. In a statement to the official Spanish agency Efe, the official assures that these statements were "erroneous" and would have been "taken out of context". According to his explanations, the customs file is a political matter handled by the Moroccan and Spanish Ministries of the Interior according to the roadmap recently established between the two countries. "The customs administration will implement all decisions made by the political authorities," he added.

"When the two ministries agree on aspects related to Ceuta and Melilla, we apply them," said Nabil Lakhdar. In this sense, he stressed that his administration "does not make political decisions." The official also said that he has already discussed with his Spanish counterparts the geographical difficulties presented by the current structure of the two crossing points.