VIPs Allegedly Bypass Visa Queues at Spain’s Tangier Consulate
A Moroccan intermediary allegedly has access to Spain’s consulate in Tangier to facilitate visa applications for senior officials. Lists of prominent figures, access to offices and the ability to check on applications: a Spanish media investigation describes a system far removed from standard procedures.
A black car entering the consulate grounds, lists of prominent figures to be given priority, and a woman casually checking the progress of applications on computers at the diplomatic mission. The scene, photographed several times, has raised questions. In an investigation published on Wednesday, October 7, the Spanish newspaper The Objective says it uncovered a privileged system that allows Moroccan officials to obtain visas for Spain more easily.
At the center of this alleged arrangement is a Moroccan woman aged around 65, identified by the initials E.BA. She reportedly regularly arrives at the Tangier consulate in a high-end vehicle, then goes to the offices to hand over lists of beneficiaries. Senior civil servants, politicians, judges and prosecutors from northern Morocco are said to be among those concerned.
Her role reportedly goes beyond submitting documents. According to photographs obtained by the outlet, she may also check the progress of applications on consulate computers, alongside a Spanish employee. Several sources interviewed by the newspaper described this freedom of movement as “completely irregular,” particularly because it involves areas reserved for visa processing.
Consul General Aurora Díaz-Rato reportedly describes the intermediary as a liaison with the courts in Tangier. The outlet’s sources dispute that role, saying the woman is retired. More surprisingly, she was allegedly banned from the consulate for fourteen years after being named in an earlier visa-selling case. This claim has not been officially confirmed.
Appointments for some, privileged access for others?
These revelations come as the Spanish consulate set out, in late August, its new procedures for submitting visa applications. For a first Schengen visa application, applicants must book an appointment on the BLS website, with appointments released every Monday.
Travelers who already have several visas benefit from more flexible procedures. Some can submit their applications without an appointment on specific days and at set times, subject to availability. But these official arrangements do not allow an outsider to move around consular offices to follow the applications of selected prominent figures.
The Tangier consulate had already been embroiled in a visa-fraud case in 2023. Two Spanish employees and two Moroccan intermediaries were implicated in an investigation into Schengen visas allegedly sold to Moroccan applicants.
When the Spanish outlet asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid about the woman’s identity, her authorizations and any previous history at the consulate, it had received no response by the time of publication.
