The majority of businessmen from Melilla who export products to Morocco open businesses in the peninsula to be able to continue introducing their goods to the neighboring country, as Rabat opposes products with a certificate of origin from Melilla .
Morocco considers that Melilla products cannot be exported because they are already Moroccan. This is what they made known, a little less than a year ago, to a textile entrepreneur who held the exclusive rights to a clothing brand in Melilla.
“From Beni Ensar They returned the container to me when they realized the goods came from Melilla. They told me that we could not export from one Moroccan city to another Moroccan city, that it was illegal,” explains a businessman.
Melilla businessmen have always exported to Morocco. When Rabat closed the land border to trade in August 2018, many sought to bring their products across the peninsula, despite the economic effort this entails. Now, in addition, they are obliged to establish new businesses in Andalusia because Rabat does not allow operating either from the city or with commercial companies located in Melilla.
“Since they closed customs, exporters from Melilla or They went to Moroccoor they had to create a business or look for a partner in the peninsula to be able to continue working”, confirms to EL Enrique Alcoba, president of the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Melilla (CEME-CEOE) and of the Association of Traders. ESPAÑOL .
The relocation process consists of deregistering the commercial enterprise of Melilla and creating a new one in the peninsula, which means losing the bonuses of the autonomous city: they start paying a 50% quota for self-employed workers and 25% additional personal income tax rate. This is the case of a food sector entrepreneur who now has two warehouses in Andalusia, with a new CIF, and who prefers to remain anonymous.
Enrique Alcoba asks the government to defend the interests of Ceuta and Melilla in the European Parliament: “We hope that our government will demand in Brussels that Morocco comply with European regulations on commercial customs, which is not that of Melilla, since we are the southern border of Europe. , and that the travel regime is reciprocal in both directions or closed for both countries.
“It’s a shame. Morocco allows absolutely nothing. Melilla and Ceuta have been providing health care for emergencies and births to Moroccan residents for decades. Centuries of neighborhood and trade. And the Spanish government is incapable to unlock anything.” » he laments for his part. Amin AzmaniMP for Somos Melilla.
EL ESPAÑOL contacted the Government Delegation of Melillawho claimed to have “no proof” that Morocco does not authorize the export of goods from the peninsula with commercial companies originating or created in Melilla. For their part, four businessmen from Melilla based in Andalusia refused to explain their situation, fearing reprisals from Morocco.
This new movement from Morocco is further suffocating the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. The panorama is very worrying, according to Enrique Alcoba: “No commercial customs, no travelers regime, no tourism, no buyers from Moroccoand to be able to enter Melilla they need a visa.”
