Spain, Morocco prepare for 2022 Marhaba operation

Spain and Morocco are preparing to resume the 2022 Marhaba operation, following the recent rapprochement between Madrid and Rabat.

Marhaba operation is an annual program that starts in June and continues until September, with the aim of welcoming Moroccans residing abroad during summer.

The announcement comes following the first meeting of the Coordination and Management Committee to organize the 2022 Marhaba operation, on Monday in Madrid.

The deputy secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Isabel Goicoechea, chaired the meeting, explaining that “the Marhaba operation is the sum many departments and ministerial bodies’ work.”

“It is one of the biggest operations between continents in such a short period of time; In 2019, the last year in which the Marhaba operation was carried out with Spain, 3,340,045 passengers and 760,215 vehicles crossed Spanish ports,” she said.

Due to political tensions, Morocco excluded Spanish ports from last year’s Marhaba operation, which facilitates the transit of 2.5 million to 3 million Moroccans seeking to come back home.

Spain and Morocco announced new bold decisions in a joint declaration, following Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’ meeting with King Mohamed 6 on Thursday in Rabat.

Therefore, Spain and Morocco have taken important steps with the aim of building new bilateral relations, including the full restoration of the movement of people and goods in an orderly manner; thus reopening enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the gradual resumption of maritime travel between Morocco and Spain, starting April 12.

Spain and Morocco have further decided to work together in different fields; such as the industrial, educational, commercial and cultural sectors.

Spain was the latest country to join the list of global players that supported Morocco’s Autonomy proposal, and therefore breaking with decades of “neutrality” over the Western Sahara conflict.