Spanish Sisters Stranded in Morocco for a Year Due to COVID Border Closures

Eva, Farah and their mother are among the many Spaniards and/or Spanish residents blocked in Morocco. For a year, they have been waiting to be repatriated to Ceuta. Their father, Pedro González, has tried in vain to bring his family back to the country. He has not been able to get them seats on the repatriation boats. "My wife and daughters live in a rented house in Rincón (M’diq) that we pay for with great effort," he explains, adding that his daughters, of Spanish nationality, "have not been enrolled in school all year." Their mother has a different situation because "she is a resident of Ceuta and has not yet obtained nationality after 12 years of marriage," he specifies.

"Many Spaniards and Spanish residents blocked in Morocco buy tickets for the ships on the black market and see their forms rejected repeatedly," says González, who denounces the high prices of tickets sold by shipping companies. "You just have to check the page of the Spanish Embassy in Morocco to realize this. You have to pay around 200 euros for a ticket that should cost less than 40 euros," he said.