Karima Benyaich, the Moroccan Ambassador to Spain, has confirmed that the customs between Morocco and the two occupied cities, Ceuta and Melilla, will be opened as agreed in the roadmap established between the two countries over two years ago. However, she did not specify a date for this procedure.
In an interview with Europa Press agency and the Spanish newspaper El Periodico, she noted that the delay in opening the customs was due to technical issues that affected the execution of the agreement with the European nation.
“There is a timeline, decisions have been made, technical teams are meeting, and many technical elements need to be worked on,” she said.
While inaugurating an economic forum on investment possibilities in the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region last week, the ambassador highlighted that Morocco and Spain ought to agree as much as possible and maximize the benefits between them, noting that they are only 14 kilometers apart.
Both the Moroccan and Spanish governments have repeatedly expressed their desire to open customs in an organized manner, aiming to avoid reverting to a stage of subsistence smuggling. Therefore, three experimental tests were conducted in January, February, and May 2023.
