The Ministry of the Interior has confirmed that midnight next Tuesday, May 17, the land borders of Ceuta Y Melilla with Morocco, thus ending the two years and two months that these border crossings have been closed in a decision adopted at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This was announced by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, after presiding over the act for the 178th anniversary of the Civil Guard held at the Young Guards facilities in Valdemoro (Madrid).
It will be a gradual reopening, set by ministerial order. Thus, from midnight on Monday to Tuesday, the 17th of the steps of El Tarajal, in Ceuta, and Beni Enzar, in Melilla, for citizens and residents of the European Union and for those authorized to circulate in the Schengen area. Morocco will set its conditions in the opposite direction.
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As of May 31, a second phase will be opened in which legally recognized cross-border workers will be able to enter Spanish territory through those same border crossings, as well as those who, due to the expiration of the card that accredits them as such, have obtained an specific visa for Ceuta and Melilla.
The reopening of the land borders of the North African Spanish cities will take place a year after the entry of some 10,000 migrants in Ceuta in the face of the passivity of the Moroccan police, in the midst of a crisis with this country that was officially closed two months ago with the letter from the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to King Mohamed VI supporting the autonomy plan for the Sahara.