The Moroccans who have been blocked in Spain following the Moroccan authorities’ decision to close the borders do not feel abandoned. The Moroccan embassy in Spain has deployed all its resources to assist them.
There are no figures yet available on the number of people affected by this decision, because in addition to Moroccan citizens on Iberian soil, there are also national tourists from European countries such as France and Germany. For the time being, the main concern of the Moroccan diplomatic authorities in Spain is to provide accommodation for its nationals.
“We are active 24 hours a day and we keep in permanent contact with our fellow citizens,” says a source in charge of the file.
The diplomatic services are facing a major challenge: all the country’s hotels are expected to close their doors in the next few days. Only a few will remain open to receive foreign tourists.
In Andalusia, several dozen Moroccan tourists are affected by the preventive measure of closing the borders. This is the case of a young Tangier citizen contacted by ECO Inspirations. No sooner had he arrived in Seville to spend a few days relaxing, his holiday turned into a nightmare. “On Wednesday, my friend and I arrived in Seville on a flight from Tangier. It was planned that we would stay there for three days. But the decision to close the borders took us by surprise on Thursday and put an early end to our holiday,” says Mohamed Said. Without waiting too long, he and his travel companion headed the next day to the Moroccan Consulate General in Seville. A few days later, they are hosted and taken care of by the Moroccan authorities. In addition to accommodation, the Moroccans receive symbolic financial assistance to meet their needs until the situation clears up. “My mother keeps contacting me. She is worried because I am far away and “alone” in these circumstances. Our diet is based on canned food and some fruit and vegetables because everything is expensive here,” he says. He concludes: “We understand that the situation is difficult, but I hope we can be repatriated.”
The Spanish media have welcomed Morocco’s initiatives to help its citizens affected by the closure of the borders. In its Tuesday edition, the local newspaper opiniondemalaga.es headlined that 160 Moroccan citizens have been taken care of by the Moroccan authorities. The media notes that the consular authorities of Algeciras have taken action to accommodate Moroccan tourists who have been stuck in the area. The newspaper indicated that Morocco pays daily the sum of 2,500 Euros (2767USD) as accommodation expenses for these tourists alone. In addition, the Moroccan consulate has called upon the services of a Moroccan restaurant which delivers daily meals to the confined people in order to prevent them from moving and to respect the instructions of the state of sanitary emergency enacted in Spain.
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