More than three years of negotiations have failed to ensure that two small trucks, one with household appliances and the other with hygiene products, crossed the Spanish borders of Ceuta and Melilla towards Morocco this last week. The supposed opening of commercial customs in the autonomous North African cities keeps its inhabitants in suspense, especially businessmen and politicians, upset by the hypothetical restrictions that the Moroccan Executive may impose and by the “opacity” with which the Spanish Government is dealing. the question.
For the moment, Moncloa has not clarified whether the aborted passage of the two vehicles towards the neighboring country responded to the entry into operation of the long-awaited goods transit space or was simply a new test like those already carried out in previous years.
The events precipitated at the end of last week when the Government Delegation in Melilla began contacting businessmen announcing the imminent opening of customs. Already in those first moments, concerned voices began to emerge – including those from business groups and that of the president of that town himself, Juan José Imbroda – about the conditions under which the passage would be opened, which seems to include important limitations on the products that Morocco will allow you to reach its soil.
It all led to the attempt for two vans to cross the borders of Beni Enzar (Melilla) and El Tarajal (Ceuta) on Wednesday. The obstacles on the part of Morocco were constant. First, forcing the loads to be moved to other vehicles of a different type and then slowing down the transports at customs for hours to finally turn them around without even checking what they contained inside.
What happened is a hard blow to the Spanish claims and the desires of those who live in the autonomous cities, which have found practically no explanations from the respective Government delegations, despite the fact that the heads of both, Sabrina Moh and Cristina Pérez , were present during the day in question at the two border crossings.
“It is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who will officially confirm the opening of this commercial customs. Today (Wednesday) a truck with personal hygiene products crossed. We cannot guarantee whether there will be another commercial expedition tomorrow or not. These matters are managed between Madrid and Rabat,” sources from the Central representation in Ceuta managed to tell this medium before the rejection of the goods at the Moroccan border occurred.
Foreign Affairs talks about “technical issues”
From then on, the only member of the national Executive who has spoken on the matter has been the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and not in any case José Luis Albares, head of Foreign Affairs, from whom a detailed explanation was expected. about the conditions of the new customs. “What I make clear is that the degree of Spanish-Moroccan cooperation and collaboration is manifestly important, relevant and of the utmost loyalty and reliability,” said the Interior representative, who attributed the fact that “technical issues that must be resolved” to “ the two trucks were returned by the Alawite Kingdom.
What happened this Wednesday and the prospect of significant restrictions at customs in the autonomous cities is of particular concern to the business sector, which has been suffering for years from the effects of the absence of a product transit channel with the neighboring country. If the Melilla employers’ association already raised its voice last week, the Ceutí has spoken out in recent hours in statements to elDiario.es. “They have not informed us of anything, we contacted the Delegation and they told us that when the opening occurs they would notify us,” says Arantxa Campos, leader of the Spanish Confederation of Entrepreneurs (CEOE) in Ceuta.
The businessmen understand that the regulations that govern the new shipments of goods must “be those of any other border in the world” and, in that sense, they say they do not understand that “Spain is preparing specific regulations for the Ceuta customs or that Morocco imposes it in both Ceuta and Melilla.” Campos warns that the development of a particular regulation must necessarily entail a procedure in which businessmen can take part by “making allegations.” In view of the fact that “no action has been opened” that indicates this, the employers maintain that the rule will be the same as that prevailing in the rest of the customs offices.
However, Campos remains cautious and alludes to the “lack of legal certainty” regarding the procedures involving the neighboring country. “We see the traveler regime, the use of which is legislated and regulated everywhere and which is not applied here in Ceuta,” he argues.
The “opacity” that the local representatives of the CEOE complain about coincides with the fact that only two businessmen were aware that a truck with hygiene products was going to try to cross into Morocco this Wednesday. This has been confirmed to this medium by sources from one of the firms, Vivera Atlántica, which lent the vehicle after the Alawite Government considered that the vans in which it was going to be done did not meet the requirements.
The PP calls for “transparency”
Not only businessmen seem upset with the way in which the national Executive is handling the implementation of the Ceuta customs and the reopening of Melilla. PP deputy Javier Celaya asked this Thursday for “clarity and transparency from the PSOE regarding the negotiations that are being carried out with Morocco.” The popular representative speaks of “total confusion” regarding customs and considers that “the prosperity of Ceuta cannot depend on Rabat.”
The local administration, also in the hands of the PP, has adopted the same argument. The councilors Nicola Cecchi and Alejandro Ramírez spoke out in recent days ensuring that “the economic future of the town cannot depend on commercial customs” and asked for caution until they know the conditions that the passage of products between countries will have and then carry out an analysis. to adults, “listening to all the voices involved.”
Meanwhile, the city of Ceuta is breathing worried. Local business owners have been emphasizing for years the importance that the opening of customs would have for them. In it they see the hope that the city will regain the pulse it lost when the chaotic transportation system was stopped, which fed a city full of bazaars and warehouses in the border industrial area where merchandise of all kinds was traded without further regulation. For now, they only have to wait, until the Minister of Foreign Affairs or another representative of the Government of Spain finishes clarifying what will become of the great promise that the commercial customs of Ceuta and Melilla continue to be today.
#Morocco #stops #customs #Ceuta #Melilla #silence #Government #irritates #local #economic #fabric
