Morocco Reportedly Entices Jewish Businesspeople from Spanish Enclaves with Investment Offers

"I received on Friday a call from a number with the Moroccan code. On the other end of the line, an official and member of the royal household who offered me to invest in Morocco, to benefit from tax exemptions whose rates are lower than those of Spain, support for the creation of companies as well as facilities to export from Morocco to other countries on the African continent," confides to El Español a Jewish businessman specialized in the sale and export of shoes in Melilla. While promising to think about the offer, he made it clear to his interlocutor that he had no plans for Morocco and that he was considering prospecting rather in Israel.

Another businessman was also contacted by the Moroccan royal palace. He is the exclusive distributor in Melilla of the Amstel beer produced in Holland. A drink very popular with Moroccans who do not hesitate to cross the border to obtain it.

These two entrepreneurs, Melilla residents of Moroccan origin, at the time when Spain had authorized the clandestine passage of 5,000 Jews from Casablanca, Tangier and Fez to the peninsula, were contacted by André Azoulay, advisor on economic and financial affairs to King Mohamed VI since 1991, the newspaper believes, noting that Jewish wholesalers of major pharmaceutical and perfumery brands based in Gibraltar have also been contacted in this regard.

Through these overtures, Morocco intends to attract investments in order to develop a commercial zone near the borders and ports, to asphyxiate Ceuta and Melilla.