Spanish PM’s Visit to Melilla Stirs Tension with Morocco

Sources from Moncloa confirmed to EFE that Sánchez will preside over the inauguration ceremony of this hospital, which started its activities this week. The last visit of the Spanish government president to Melilla was on March 23, 2022, when he also made a trip to Ceuta, following the normalization of relations with Morocco after the change in position on the Sahara.

This resumption of relations led to the reopening of Melilla’s commercial customs on January 15, after its unilateral closure by Morocco on August 1, 2018. This visit by Sanchez is therefore his first since the reopening of customs. For the president of the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Melilla, Enrique Alcoba, what exists is "what Morocco wants to impose, customs only for certain sectors, certain days and a certain quantity."

The Popular Party (PP), the opposition party, sees the inauguration of this hospital as a "staging operation and political propaganda." Isabel Moreno, the PP senator from Melilla, assured that neither the hospital beds, nor the intensive care unit, nor the emergency service are yet operational, emphasizing that the only objective of this ceremony is to "take a photo and cut a ribbon."

This visit by Sanchez to Melilla will not be viewed favorably by Morocco, which maintains its claims on Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the Spanish islands and rocks.