“We should have maintained our position” on the Sahara
Melilla lives caught in the political and diplomatic crossfire between Morocco, Algeria, Western Sahara and Spain. The unilateral closure of the border decreed by Rabat in 2018 has forced this city to reinvent itself autonomous region of 90,000 inhabitants nestled in Africa. The outgoing president of Melilla, Eduardo de Castro, speaks to EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA in Madrid, where he has come to sign a protocol with the Foreign Ministry to open an “embassy & rdquor; within the Spanish before the EU in Brussels. His goal is to Europeanize the city to diversify its options.
Melilla is the southern border of the European Union. It is in fact, together with Ceuta, the only land border of Europe in all of Africa. And different from Ceuta, with whom many people equate us… Melilla is more isolated and remote. And the area around us in Morocco is the worst in poverty, development and ethnic issues. The Riffians are different from the rest of Moroccans.In what? They are more bellicose, even with Morocco itself. the 1921 war [tras la sublevación contra España de las tribus del Rif] It was not against Morocco, but against the Rif, supporting the then Sultan of Morocco.Precisely because of this avant-garde position, the passage of people and goods is important. Customs, are they ready? No.What they say? What is the justification? They don’t tell me anything. The commercial customs, created in 1860Morocco closes it unilaterally on August 1, 2018. Then comes the pandemic, and Rabat uses it as an alibi to end atypical trade [el llevado a cabo con las porteadoras de grandes fardos de mercancías], which was a shame. The question to Rabat is: why hadn’t you cut it before? Because it benefited some 300,000 people. What do they gain then by closing? Morocco has invested in two very important ports [en Tánger y en Nador] that are supposed to generate wealth and employment. In addition, it uses hybrid and “grey area” policies: waging war without firing a shot, with pressure measures, economically drowning the city. But Spain is a strong, rich country, it does not seem likely that it will be forced to make a decision due to that pressure… Not only likely, but they have. Historically, their discourse (which ended up collapsing) is that Ceuta and Melilla are Moroccan cities. That argument fell through after they failed to try to bring these cases to the United Nations: they failed to list them as territories to be decolonized. Spain did achieve it with Gibraltar. And that is so because there has never been a Moroccan authority here. And since that path is lost, they use other routes. The closure of Ceuta and Melilla then, he says, was a political pressure that is related to the change of position of Pedro Sánchez on Western Sahara Definitely. Several things have come together. Morocco does its job well. It takes advantage of its geopolitical status since Donald Trump recognized the “sovereignty & rdquor; over the Sahara in exchange for Rabat’s relations with Israel, which are splendid. Furthermore, Rabat has a powerful diplomatic corps. And they do that zapping and strangling job to get things. The closure of borders was added to the wave of immigrant entries in Ceuta. All of that has helped. I do not know why Pedro Sánchez changes position without counting on anyone, which is still new. I want to think that he will have his reasons, although we don’t know them. But we had a position and it should have been maintained.
Then we would not have improved relations with Morocco… How have we improved? Little thing. The border remains semi-closed or partially open. Things as normal as the traveler regime that exists at any border, the right to take consumer goods in another country up to an amount of 2,000 or 3,000 euros, whatever each country sets, have also been charged. They do not let Moroccan tourists who come to Melilla put anything back. They come to Zara or any other store, but when they return to Morocco they take everything off, even if they are wearing them.At the moment, for Melilla, Sánchez’s turn regarding the Sahara has not changed much. Something change. That we have angry Algerians. Nothing else? Human trafficking is more controlled. The border must remain controlled. Fewer Moroccans come to Melilla, but that’s good because they come to sightsee and shop, instead of other things… In the Melilla prison there are now 70 or 80 inmates. When the border was open, it had 300.As you are the main ones affected by all this negotiation, are you involved in the management of the fence or in the opening of customs? NoAnd why not? You have to ask the government about that.Have you not asked the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, or the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska? They are all good words and intentions. The powers are exclusive to the State. But I have asked them to speed up. And do they give you information? Little, the official Do you think Morocco is going to end up opening customs? Several customs sources express their doubts. In Nador West they have made a huge port. Obviously, if they can divert a cargo ship to their port, they will. Why haven’t they done it before? Morocco is an autocracy, the complete opposite of a democracy. There corruption works.Is Morocco an autocracy or a dictatorship? For me it is a dictatorship. If we don’t want to call it a dictatorship because it sounds like a military government, we can call it an autocracy. What is Russia? An autocracy. Morocco is an absolutist monarchy with a government that also has a serious internal problem with the two brother friends of the king who are making decisions, according to the information inside Morocco.
Morocco now manages the border with a heavy hand. That caused dramatic situations… On June 24… … the tragedy of Melilla. Has something changed? There are more civil guards and the border is controlled. They do a great job with the means they have. On that date the lack of means became clear. You cannot stop an avalanche of 2,000 sub-Saharans, 500 of them who reached the fence, with 30 civil guards.Pedro Sánchez said that that crisis was “well resolved& rdquor;… It was not well resolved. There was a drama and some images in Moroccan territory with overcrowded immigrants.Melilla future
Looking to the future, there are some plans to change the economy and political influence of Melilla. For example, the Committee of the Regions. Will you go out? When? Now that the government of Pedro Sánchez is going to have the presidency of Europe, it is the ideal moment to promote it, because it will be in a position of strength. It is very necessary for Ceuta and Melilla. It is another of my initiatives. I have taken members of the Committee of the Regions to Melilla and I have been to Brussels twice. He wrote to the Prime Minister… And he answered me and thanked me. She explained to him the possibilities that existed. The Committee of the Regions is renewed in 2025. The way must be prepared for Ceuta and Melilla to be present. It is necessary to renew, because the British left after Brexit and leave places. It must be taken into account that it is one of the most important institutions, because any decision of the European Parliament that affects a region or city needs the mandatory report of the Committee. It is advisory.
Do you have power in the distribution of funds? Would it attract investment? Yes, and we could bring the specific problems of Melilla to the Committee. As a result of the letter that I have sent, they have told me that they are going to start moving it now. And join the EU Customs Union, to which Melilla now does not belong? That is more complicated. The Melilla regime is now different and we do not want to lose the advantages of our own tax system that we have. It also has to be approved by all EU states. There are intermediate paths, such as looking for a special economic zone like the Canary Islands.But, in this geopolitical interpretation that we now give to everything, I would Europeanize Melilla. Exactly, too. We also have the consideration of island territory, a singularity that we are recognized. We could enter EU mechanisms through those channels. The thing about being considered an outermost region, which the deputy Jordi Cañas sold in Brussels, I don’t see it.