Spain Prepares for Annual Moroccan Diaspora Transit as Border Opening Awaited

According to sources from the Ministry of the Interior, Spain has taken all the necessary arrangements so that the Marhaba Operation takes place under good security and health conditions. It is just waiting for Morocco, the destination country for these many travelers, whose borders are still closed due to Covid-19.

On Wednesday evening, the Moroccan government announced that the kingdom will open its borders on July 14 for Moroccans residing abroad, with the exception of those stranded in Ceuta and Melilla. In fact, the statement does not specify that it is the Marhaba Operation. But it is expressly addressed to Moroccans residing abroad who can now join the kingdom by air or sea.

The national airlines will schedule the necessary flights to ensure the success of the operation and passengers must present, before boarding, the results of a PCR test performed at least 48 hours before, as well as a serological test, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

By sea, ferries will be provided from the ports of Sète (France) and Genoa (Italy). The port of Algeciras (Cádiz), one of the main transit routes to Morocco, is not taken into account for this special operation.

Moroccans residing abroad, as well as foreigners residing in Morocco, can leave the country at the end of their stay, by the same air and sea means, the statement concludes.

"It is clear today that the Marhaba operation as we know it every year will not take place this summer, as it has not been prepared since April," Nasser Bourita, the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, had declared on March 22.

For the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, Arancha González Laya, the Spanish government respects Morocco’s decision regarding the opening or not of its borders.