Morocco Unveils New Commercial Zone Near Ceuta to Boost Regional Tourism

The creation of this commercial zone, located on the road between Tetouan and M’diq, near Cabo Negro, aims to strengthen the tourist attractiveness of the region, reports El Español, specifying that Rabat has already done the same in the northeast of the country, with the construction of the port of Nador, near the border with Melilla, whose work is nearing completion. The Tetouan commercial zone, covering an area of 70 hectares, will have shopping centers, restaurants, play and leisure areas. A first part of the infrastructure should be operational in the spring of next year.

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The global leader in furniture and decoration, IKEA, is the first company to register in the new commercial zone. It plans to occupy an area of more than 3 hectares, including 19,000 m² of covered space. The site work has already started and the opening is scheduled for the summer of 2022. "The opening of this new store represents an investment of nearly 400 million dirhams (a little less than 40 million euros), which will undoubtedly revive the economy of the northern region of Morocco," the Swedish company said in a statement.

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"King Mohammed VI’s strategic vision to create a port and industrial platform in the Strait of Gibraltar has helped attract renowned national and international operators and strengthen a diversified industrial and logistics ecosystem," said Jaafar Mrhardy, CEO of Tanger Med Zonas, during the launch of the work on the Zone which, according to him, will "strengthen Tanger Med’s position in the Euro-Mediterranean area in the perspective of the post-Covid-19 period."

Morocco has reserved land and warehouses in the free zone under construction in Fnideq, only two kilometers from the Tarajal border, for businessmen from Ceuta, in order to put an end to the smuggling trade. Rabat is investing in this region near Ceuta to gradually recover the autonomous city, the same source believes.