The question of opening customs in Ceuta and Melilla still divides Morocco and Spain. «Everything is ready to be able to start functioning (customs)», insisted Spanish Foreign minister José Manuel Albares, this Thursday in Rabat, during a press briefing with his Moroccan counterpart. An assertion that Nasser Bourita wanted to qualify, ensuring that the two parties are not facing «a problem of commitments or politics», but rather a «problem of technical implementation», reports Iberian media. When the time comes, there will be «an opening of customs in which a common framework will be applied which will lead to an improvement and which will not generate any kind of frustration», he said. Rabat and Madrid carried out three tests this year at the customs of Ceuta and Melilla, on January 27, February 24 and May 26. For the record, the Joint Declaration published at the end of the 12th Moroccan-Spanish High-Level Meeting, held in February in Rabat, reiterated the commitment of the two countries to continue to «advance in an orderly manner towards the full normalization of traffic of people and goods» and «will continue [the] tests on the agreed schedule to overcome possible constraints». Apart from this point of «disagreement», José Manuel Albares and Nasser Bourita welcomed «the quality of the bilateral relationship, based on good neighborliness, mutual trust and permanent and constructive dialogue». A new stage in Moroccan-Spanish relations, initiated the day after Pedro Sanchez announced Spain's support for the Moroccan autonomy plan.
