Melilla borders : Moroccan-Spanish working groups never met, reveals Borrell

On September the 13th in Rabat, and after the Morocco’s Director General of the Customs Administration met with his Spanish counterpart, the two parties agreed to create a «joint working group» to examine the closure of borders separating Melilla and northern Morocco.

Six weeks later, the joint working group never met, said Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell during a press briefing held Saturday, 28th of October.

«You know, a month is not enough to act quickly» on some problems, said the Spanish Minister as reported by El Pais.

He said that the Pedro Sanchez government is putting pressure «on Morocco to have a working group». But «this group will meet» soon, he announced.

On August the 1st, 2018, Morocco decided to close its commercial borders with Melilla. The decision was highly criticized in the enclave, especially by entrepreneurs and businessmen.

On Thursday, August 30, 2018, the government's Spokesperson, Mustapha El Khalfi, said that the measure was a decision of «sovereignty» taken to «develop the activity of the new port of Nador», in Northeastern Morocco.