Spain Extends Border Closure of Ceuta and Melilla Amid Diplomatic Tensions and Migration Concerns

This decision by the central government in Madrid, reported by the local press, comes in a context marked by strong "migratory pressure" on the two territories, overwhelmed by increasingly important flows of migrants, mainly of Moroccan origin.

Indeed, the closure of the borders decided since the appearance of Covid has completed the cross-border trade, thus plunging the two enclaves into a severe economic crisis that inevitably affects the inhabitants of the northern regions of Morocco, particularly Fnideq, a large part of whose population lived from this cross-border trade. While these victims of the border lockdown are demanding the reopening, Rabat promises job-creating projects in the region.