Uncertain future for Ceuta and Melilla, claims newspaper
It is alleged that a shoe exporter, during the course of a telephone call, was told that if he chose to move his business to the Moroccan side of the border, he would be “completely free to make an investment” and would benefit from “bonuses within the Moroccan taxes, which are also lower than the Spanish ones; and management assistance in opening and infrastructure.”
A report about the foregoing is carried in the ‘Morocco World News’.
There are allegations of anti-Moroccan reports.
According to El Espanol, the plan entails “implementing a commercial customs office that would supply the northern area of the Rif and thus strengthen the business environment of Beni Ensar to relaunch the port areas.”
The newspaper alleges that the Moroccan leadership also contacted business owners with Moroccan origins. The plan, according to El Espanol, is to force Spanish-owned businesses in Ceuta and Melilla to close by setting up an economic hub in direct competition on the other side of the border.
On June 10, the Spanish Vox delegate for Ceuta said: “We demand that the government clarify whether it plans to give into pressure from Morocco and allow Ceuta and Melilla to become an annex of the neighbouring country.”
In an official statement, Vox cited a previous report from El Espanol.
In a May 31 article, the newspaper outlined claims that Morocco intends to implement border restrictions after the COVID-19 lockdown.
According to the report, when the borders reopen, Moroccans and tourists alike will have to pass into the enclave through passport control and will not be able to use Moroccan ID cards or cross the border without a passport stamp.
Anyone entering the cities carrying merchandise will have to declare the imports and pay the necessary tariffs. Export and import will be regularized, meaning that the queues of people carrying goods on their backs at the borders will become a thing of the past.
El Espanol emphasized that, as yet, there has been no confirmation of these plans. “We have no evidence that Morocco is going to end porting in the city,” sources within the Ceuta and Melilla administrations told the newspaper.
‘Morocco World News’ said: The report then claimed that if Spain does not agree to the proposed measures, “Morocco will completely close the borders.”
Ceuta and Melilla have been struggling economically since Morocco imposed stricter border regulations in order to clamp down on the informal economy.
Vox has also accused Morocco of laying siege to Ceuta. In May, Vox senator Yolanda Merelo accused Madrid of abandoning the enclave, asking when the coalition government intends to intervene “in the siege of Ceuta.”
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23-06-2020 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
