Portimão-Tangier Ferry Line Faces Setbacks as Security Concerns Mount

Security forces (including the police, as well as the border authority SEF and even the tax authorities) without the necessary resources to launch the maritime line, the port of Portimão without video surveillance cameras, passport control booths, computer tools and rest areas, SEF lacking in human resources... So many difficulties related to the project to launch the maritime line between Portimão and Tangier.

According to SEF, the line would entail "risks to internal security" due to issues concerning the alleged drug and human trafficking routes between Morocco and Portugal, reports Público. In a statement to the newspaper, the mayor of Portimão, Isilda Gomes, who was enthusiastic about this project which would allow "the Algarve to diversify its markets due to the restrictions related to Covid-19" said she had received nothing from the government for "three weeks". According to her, the project is beginning to "lose interest".

On the Portuguese government side, no information has been provided to Morocco or to the Portuguese press. The Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Internal Administration refuse to comment on the project, the same source said.