The residents of Melilla continue to put pressure on Spain through night protest calls to demand the "immediate opening" of border crossing points. But the Spanish government prefers not to give in to these pressures which are far from diverting it from the set objective.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) denounced on Saturday the mass arrests of sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco, near the borders of Ceuta and Melilla.
The announced reopening of the border with Morocco presents good prospects for Melilla, whose service stations could benefit from the increase in fuel prices at the pump and the risk of shortages in the kingdom.
The Criminal Chamber of the National Court has ordered the extradition to Morocco of a young man from Nador, arrested in Ceuta last August for cocaine trafficking.
Dozens of people demonstrated on Wednesday at the Melilla border with Morocco, demanding its reopening after more than two years of closure.
The Spanish government does not intend to publish the security plan for Ceuta and Melilla provided for in the new national security strategy, approved last December. The document will be classified as a state secret.
The president of Nueva Canarias (NC), Román Rodríguez, drew the attention of the Spanish government on Saturday to the persistence of Morocco’s annexationist desires on Ceuta , Melilla and certain Spanish islands, including the Canaries.
The Algerian diplomat Amar Belani, in charge of monitoring the conflict in the Sahara at the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reacted on Friday to the visit of Pedro Sanchez to Rabat, describing the change in Spain’s position on the Sahara as a "crime".
Moroccan legal workers in Sebta and Melilia who have been unemployed for more than two years are concerned about their future. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, on a visit to Morocco, did not address their situation.
During his visit to Morocco on Thursday, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, will reassure King Mohammed VI that his promise to double the military budget is not aimed at strengthening the security of Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands, territories claimed by Morocco.
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, will be in Morocco this Thursday where he will have a tête-à-tête with Mohammed VI. The migration issue, the territorial integrity of Spain (Ceuta and Melilla in particular), the reopening of borders, the resumption of Operation Marhaba and many other subjects, will be on the agenda of the exchanges.
Many Moroccan women crossed the border to give birth in hospitals in Ceuta and Melilla. Since the closure of the borders, this movement is no longer possible, which has led to a 50% drop in the number of births in the autonomous cities.