Grande-Marlaska stresses Morocco as Spain's "key strategic partner" in home affairs

Meeting between the Minister for Home Affairs of the Government of Spain, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and his Moroccan counterpart, Abdelouafi Laftit, in Rabat

The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, this Friday described Morocco as "Spain's main strategic partner in Home Affairs matters", during the meeting he held in Rabat with his Moroccan counterpart, Abdelouafi Laftit, on his first trip abroad after his appointment.

This is the thirteenth meeting between the two leaders, which demonstrates "the excellent state of relations and our personal commitment to permanently strengthen bilateral cooperation", he added. The last meeting was held on 2 February in Rabat in the framework of the High Level Meeting between Spain and Morocco.

During their meeting, Grande-Marlaska thanked Laftit for Morocco's "commitment and effort" in the joint challenge of irregular immigration and in the fight against the mafias that traffic in people, "a particularly cruel and inhumane scourge", he stressed.

The two ministers pledged to continue the Spanish-Moroccan model of bilateral preventive collaboration, which, in the opinion of Grande-Marlaska, is "the most significant and developed example of practical cooperation between Europe and Africa, and a key model at a time of increased migratory pressure on the EU's southern border and in Morocco."

Along these lines, Grande-Marlaska confirmed the 41 per cent drop in irregular arrivals in Ceuta and Melilla with his counterpart, which highlights "the effort" in the surveillance of the outer perimeter of the autonomous cities.

The Minister for Home Affairs also informed Laftit of the technological improvements being made in the two autonomous cities to improve the fluidity of the border crossings. "We are implementing an automatic entry/exit system, as at all other border crossing points, which will be of mutual benefit, ensuring timely controls".

Counter-terrorism and civil protection

The meeting also served to strengthen the fight against terrorism and organised crime. "With international support and collaboration, we are more effective, both in prevention and in prosecution," said the minister, who highlighted the joint activity in counter-terrorism during 2023.

In the past year, Spain and Morocco participated in 14 counter-terrorism operations that resulted in more than 80 arrests. The latest joint operation, carried out by the General Intelligence Police and the Moroccan Directorate General of Territorial Surveillance (DGST), took place on 19 December in Nador and Melilla and resulted in the dismantling of a network dedicated to recruiting and indoctrinating Jihadists.

Other issues of common interest were also on the table, especially in the field of civil protection. "Morocco will continue to count on Spain's assistance and technical capabilities, as it demonstrated in the aid provided during the earthquake that shook the country last September," the minister recalled.

Furthermore, Grande-Marlaska expressly praised the bilateral cooperation that made it possible to carry out the successful Operation Crossing the Strait (OPE), which ran from 15 June to 15 September 2023. The OPE ended with more than 3.2 million passengers and marked "an all-time high" in the embarkation of vehicles, and ship rotations - more than 7775,000 and 11,000, respectively. "We should congratulate ourselves on the successful collaboration in this area, which will continue in 2024," he said.

Non official translation