Morocco-Spain Ferry Traffic Falls Short of Expectations in 2022 Operation Marhaba

For the outbound phase which takes place between June 15 and August 15, 1,430,340 MRE and 349,735 vehicles joined Morocco via the Spanish ports, a decrease of 13.3% and 9.7% respectively compared to 2019, the Ministry of the Interior reported on Wednesday. The peak periods were noted in late June-early July, coinciding with the Eid al-Adha holiday. MREs arriving at the ports of Algeciras and Tarifa (Cadiz) had to wait several hours before boarding. The same situation at the port of Ceuta where the traffic jam was monstrous.

In terms of inbound flow, the port of Algeciras sets the record with 61% of the total traffic. 870,109 MRE embarked from this port to Morocco, a 2.8% decrease compared to 2019. The port of Almeria records 17% of the flow, ahead of Tarifa (12%) and the ports of Motril, Malaga, Alicante and Valencia which recorded flows of less than 5%. For its part, Ceuta recorded the passage of 23% of MRE, an increase of 3.9% compared to 2019. As for Melilla, it remained almost at the same level as in 2019, with an MRE flow of 12%.

The return phase has already started and will end on September 15. As of August 15, 509,459 MRE have returned from Morocco, an increase of 24.6% compared to the same dates in 2019, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.