- Facing backlash, EU moves to delay deforestation rules
- US private sector adds more jobs than expected in September: ADP
- Boys out of critical condition after Zurich stabbings
- Spain logs record summer tourism as inflow draws protests
- Hedi Slimane quits as Celine's artistic director
- Oil prices extend rally on Iran attack
- Spain welcomed record number of tourists this summer
- France says coming tax hikes on the wealthy to be 'temporary'
- Why are Thailand's roads so deadly?
- Oracle to invest $6.5 bn in Malaysian cloud services region
- Parkrun marks 20 years of a free weekly jog, run... or walk
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong soars again
- Prostitutes, prospectors drive spread in DR Congo mpox capital
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong resumes surge
- Extreme heat another form of death sentence in Texas jails
- Can music help plants grow? Study suggests sound boosts fungus
- Nike earnings drop, says turnaround will take time
- US dockworkers launch mass strike a month before election
- Iron Dome: Israel's key anti-missile shield
- Cranes stand still as US dockworkers fight for 'future'
- GM reports US sales dip, but says EVs grew
- Sheinbaum takes office as Mexico's first woman president
- Webb telescope detects carbon dioxide on Pluto's largest moon
- Stock markets slump, oil jumps on Middle East concerns
- French PM vows more taxes and spending cuts ahead of budget fight
- Germany inaugurates IBM's first European quantum data centre
- Stock markets diverge as eurozone inflation drops further
- France's richest man takes control of Paris Match magazine
- Anger meets tear gas as Nigeria hardship protests fizzle out
- US dockworkers launch mass strike month before election
- Evacuations from Lebanon: what we know
- Feathers fly at Chanel's Paris fashion return
- UAE oil giant ADNOC swoops on German chemicals firm Covestro
- Eurozone inflation falls under 2% for first time since 2021
- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
- US port officials gird for strike despite last-minute bargaining
- With 118 dead from Hurricane Helene, Biden defends US government response
- Breeder who tried to create enormous trophy sheep jailed in US
- Qatar Airways seeking 25% stake in Virgin Australia
- US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck
- As toll crosses 100, Trump puts Hurricane Helene at election center stage
- US Fed Chair sees 'further disinflation' in economy
RYCEF | 1.42% | 7.03 | $ | |
RBGPF | -2.18% | 59.5 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.04% | 24.76 | $ | |
GSK | -0.9% | 39.94 | $ | |
NGG | -1.43% | 69.06 | $ | |
RIO | 1.14% | 71.98 | $ | |
AZN | 0.88% | 79.37 | $ | |
VOD | -1.75% | 9.779 | $ | |
RELX | -0.23% | 47.23 | $ | |
BTI | -0.66% | 36.21 | $ | |
SCS | -0.31% | 13.159 | $ | |
BCE | -0.26% | 34.74 | $ | |
JRI | 0.15% | 13.55 | $ | |
BCC | -0.04% | 141.335 | $ | |
BP | 1.53% | 32.59 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.2% | 24.89 | $ |
Spain partially reopens enclaves to Moroccan workers
Spain opened the borders of its North African enclaves Ceuta and Melilla to Moroccan workers on Tuesday, two years after their closure and following the resolution of a drawn-out diplomatic crisis.
The European Union's only borders on African soil had been shuttered in 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, then later become hostage to a bitter spat over migration and the issue of the disputed Western Sahara.
Before they were closed, some 4,400 Moroccans had regularly made the crossing visa-free to work and trade.
A spokesperson for authorities in Ceuta said Tuesday that Spain was hoping for a "progressive and orderly reopening, and most of all, an end to the underground economy" in the region.
For now, the reopening only affects 230 Moroccans, primarily domestic workers with the correct papers. Up to 40 more will be allowed to enter each day to apply for a visa.
But on Tuesday, dozens of women gathered on the Moroccan side of the crossing, waving work permits and chanting "No to visas!"
"I'm protesting today because I want to be able get into Ceuta to work," said Latifa, a nanny who had spent 15 years working in the enclave before the closure. "We used to be able to cross without visas".
Aziza, who had worked as a cleaner in Ceuta for a decade before the closure, said that in two years without work she had been forced to sell her furniture to feed her six children.
- 'Unjust' -
A union for cross-border workers said many had seen their visas expire during the crisis and were now being forced to apply for new ones, a measure it said was "unjust".
The borders had been the focus of a major dispute last year, when Madrid allowed the leader of a Western Saharan independence movement to be treated for Covid-19 in a Spanish hospital.
In mid-May 2021, ten thousand migrants surged across the Moroccan border into Ceuta as Moroccan border forces looked the other way, a move widely seen as a punitive gesture by Rabat.
In March this year, Spain moved to end the diplomatic crisis with Morocco by changing its decades-long stance of neutrality and backing the kingdom's autonomy plan for the Western Sahara, which Rabat insists must remain under its sovereignty.
The borders of the enclaves had reopened on May 17, but only for holders of passports and visas from countries in the Schengen zone.
Moroccan authorities have vowed to clamp down on smuggling, which had been tolerated until late 2019 despite the loss of customs revenues.
Rabat in February opened a business park in the border town of Fnideq it hopes will create up to 1,000 jobs.
A.Zimmermann--CPN