Smuggling Concerns May Keep Spain-Morocco Border Crossing Closed Indefinitely

On October 28, 2019, the reopening of the crossing did not take place as agreed. The two parties did not reach an agreement on this issue. Well-informed sources explain that Morocco is suffering greatly from this smuggling, which weakens its economy to the tune of more than ten billion dirhams per year.

Meanwhile, "mule" men and women are complaining about the closure of this crossing. They are organizing protest sit-ins on site and elsewhere. There are nearly 7,000 women and men transiting daily through this crossing with smuggled goods loaded on their backs. And the jostling in which many "mule" women have lost their lives is not likely to argue for the reopening of the crossing, said Le360.

While the Regional Council of Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima is developing alternative measures for the "mule" women, the traders in the area are protesting the loss of earnings due to the closure of the crossing.

Aided by the Spanish press, they are putting pressure on the authorities of the city of Sebta and Madrid, reports the same source.