Spain opened the borders of its enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Morocco to Moroccan workers on Tuesday, after two years of closure and diplomatic reconciliation between the two neighbors, noted an AFP journalist.
However, access to the two territories will remain limited primarily to Moroccans. “regular”or around 230 people, the vast majority of whom are domestic workers, according to local Spanish authorities.
Between 35 and 40 Moroccan workers who are not yet in order will nevertheless be able to cross the Ceuta border every day from Wednesday to apply for a visa from the Spanish administration.
“The objective is a gradual and orderly reopening and, above all, to end the underground economy”told AFP a spokesman for the prefecture of Ceuta.
On Tuesday morning, dozens of women gathered in the morning near the Moroccan border crossing point of Fnideq to protest against Madrid’s decision.
They brandished their work permits chanting “No to the visa”according to AFP journalists.
In March 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of the European Union’s only land borders on the African continent, nearly 4,400 Moroccan cross-border workers had access to the enclaves, according to official Spanish figures.
The union of cross-border workers evokes for its part the double of Moroccans deprived of income since the health crisis.
Many cross-border commuters have seen their visas expire after the borders were closed and must now apply for new ones from Spanish consulates in Morocco.
Their union called this obligation “unfair” and denounced the “silence of the Moroccan government”.
Moroccan workers are calling on the governments of Rabat and Madrid to be able to enter Ceuta and Melilla in order to “looking for a job” or “regularize their situation with their employers”according to testimonies collected in Fnideq.
The borders of Ceuta and Melilla had reopened on May 17 only to holders of passports and visas from countries in the Schengen zone.