Ceuta: Borders with enhanced security on Moroccan election day

Spain and Morocco have strengthened the police arrangements on both sides of the border this Wednesday, the day of Moroccan legislative elections and after in recent days having circulated appeals on social networks to illegal entry into both cities coinciding with the election day.

This week the Spanish Government acknowledged concern about possible illegal entry of people into both cities today and announced a strengthening of police facilities at the borders of Ceuta and Melilla.

At a press conference in Ceuta on Monday, Spain’s Minister of Internal Administration, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, said that “moments of concern” with “another alert” lived for the day of the legislative elections in Morocco.

On the Morocco side, special security devices were also deployed for the 'Ceuta' border and for the roads linking the cities of Tangier and Tetuán to the border area of Fnideq, according to local sources cited by the EFE news agency.

Morocco's device at the Ceuta border includes lorries with water cannons, but so far there is little movement in the border crossing, today describes the EFE.

During the early hours, there were movements on the Morocco side of migrant groups from sub-Saharan countries that are installed in the Fnideq region and clashes with the police, which ended with four detainees, said the same sources cited by the Spanish news agency.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said today, in statements to Cadena SER Radio, that the Moroccan authorities ensured collaboration with the Spanish government to avoid repeating anything similar to what happened in Ceuta in late July, when more than 70,000 people illegally crossed the border from Morocco.

In addition to security reinforcement, the Spanish embassy in Rabat launched a campaign earlier this week to discourage attempts at illegal entry into Ceuta and Melilla.

“ Entering Spain irregularly by Ceuta and Melilla does not guarantee the right to access the Iberian Peninsula, to remain in Spain or to move freely throughout the rest of the European Union,” says the Spanish embassy in Morocco in the ‘online’ campaign.

“Don’t be fooled by false information. The recent Supreme Court decision clarifies the procedure for seafarers. It doesn't change the Immigration Act. It does not declare refusals to enter borders illegal. It does not prevent the return”, adds the campaign, which was shared in the accounts of several Spanish consulates in the North African country.