The Spanish government has relieved Ceuta delegate Salvadora Mateos of her duties, who is under investigation for the "illegal" return of 55 Moroccan minors in August 2021.
The President of Melilla, Eduardo Castro, reiterated to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, his fears about Morocco’s persistent annexationist intentions on Ceuta and Melilla.
Intelligence expert Fernando Cocho has stated that he has discovered in reports the existence of an agreement between Spain and Morocco to establish a kind of co-sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla by 2030.
The Spanish government has just renounced the inclusion of Ceuta in the Schengen area, considered in December 2021 after the massive assault of migrants in the autonomous city in May of the same year.
Spain has failed to convince NATO to ensure the protection of Ceuta and Melilla in the event of an attack, let alone to have the Alliance’s ships transit through the ports of the autonomous cities to carry out technical stopovers or refueling.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has reaffirmed his country’s position on the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, stating that "the two cities are Spanish, period."
Spain has just removed health checks at the border posts of Ceuta and Melilla for travelers from non-European Union countries, including Morocco.
The use of jet skis by migrants to illegally enter Spain from the Moroccan coasts has increased in recent months. The country’s security forces are having difficulty detecting these craft on radar and thus arresting these migrants and human traffickers who transport them.
The Spanish Minister of Labor, Yolanda Diaz, presented on Tuesday in the Council of Ministers a bill to grant an unemployment benefit to border workers in Ceuta and Melilla.
Spain fears a massive assault of migrants in Ceuta and Melilla from Morocco, a few weeks before the high-level meeting between the two countries announced for November.
The Spanish Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has reaffirmed that Ceuta and Melilla "are cities as Spanish" as Bilbao, Madrid, Granada or any other city on the peninsula and the islands.
Former Spanish minister María Antonia Trujillo has reiterated her position on Ceuta and Melilla, and stated that "freedom of expression and information is more protected in Morocco than in Spain".