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MADRID: The land borders between Morocco and Spain’s North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla will reopen subsequent week, Spain mentioned, after being closed for greater than two years because of COVID-19 restrictions and tensions between the 2 international locations.
Spanish Inside Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska mentioned the reopening will begin step by step from Could 17.
Crossings will probably be initially restricted to residents of Europe’s passport-free Schengen space and their members of the family, and will probably be expanded to cross-border employees by the tip of the month. The native economies on either side of the fences that slice off the tiny Spanish enclaves from Morocco depend upon the crossings of products and employees.
The brand new announcement got here as Madrid and Rabat are working to fix relations after a months-long spat centered on the disputed area of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony annexed by Morocco in 1976. Tensions started to thaw earlier this 12 months after Spain backed Morocco’s plan to grant extra autonomy to Western Sahara.
That call — a reversal of Spain’s longstanding place of neutrality on Western Sahara — got here as a shock to many and sparked anger amongst key political allies of Spain’s Socialist-led authorities.
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI responded positively, nonetheless, sending again the Moroccan ambassador to Spain 10 months after she was recalled and internet hosting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in an April go to to Rabat.
The border is ready to be opened precisely one 12 months after Morocco loosened its border controls across the enclave of Ceuta, permitting hundreds of migrants to cross into Spain. That transfer was extensively seen as retaliation for Spain’s resolution to permit the chief of Western Sahara’s pro-independence motion to be handled for COVID-19 at a Spanish hospital.
Morocco is taken into account vital within the struggle towards radical teams, in addition to in holding again growing numbers of African migrants looking for to succeed in Europe as they flee violence and poverty at house.
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