A number of Spanish companies are increasingly declaring bankruptcy after the transit of goods between Ceuta, Melilla, and Morocco was abruptly halted following the COVID-19 induced border closure.
The business community in both the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla are “experiencing a serious financial crisis,” according to the Spanish news outlet, Europa Press.
Both cities have been living under an “economic stagnation for nearly two years now,” as authorities are currently exploring “new alternatives.”
The Europa Press report indicated that the Melilla Merchants Association has placed a group of warehouses and shops at the disposal of the local government, which is looking to attract foreign investment in recent months to overcome the repercussions of the pandemic.
The publication stated that local merchants expressed their willingness to allocate these commercial warehouses to launch new industrial activities that would revive the commercial area, in the midst of Madrid’s ongoing efforts to try and bring new economic projects to the enclaves.
“We have proposed to authorities the use of our warehouses as existing spaces, available in the short term, for those companies that want to settle in Melilla,” says the president of the association, Abdeselam Mohamed
Mohamed told Europa Press that “the availability of our warehouses as industrial land or spaces for other business activities” is on the table, “as a way to reverse the crisis situation in which our members are currently in.”
Melilla traders will offer to the Technology Park of Malaga their empty and non-operational warehouses, disused by the closure of the border and the abrupt halt of contraband product traffic to Morocco.
The Association of Traders of Melilla “Acsemel” has requested a meeting with the Councillor for Tourism, Gloria Rojas, to discuss the issue.
According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, citing government sources, the Spanish government has established a committee of six sectoral representatives, in order to prepare for the future opening of Ceuta and Melilla crossings in Ceuta.
The same newspaper indicated that the government is preparing a road map to find alternative economic solutions for the two cities, given that the “old economic scenario” is no longer available after the emergence of the global health emergency.
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