Grande-Marlaska and Laftit discuss police cooperation in Madrid for the joint hosting of the World Cup in 2030

The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and his Moroccan counterpart, Abdelouafi Laftit, during their bilateral meeting held in Madrid

The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and his Moroccan counterpart, Abdelouafi Laftit, have held a bilateral meeting in Madrid to discuss cooperation on security at major sporting events, with a view to jointly hosting the next Football World Cup in 2030, which will be held in Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

"Our experts in security management joining forces is essential to guarantee smooth running of a competition of such international importance," said Grande-Marlaska, who confirmed that the teams from both countries have already begun to share experiences and work methodologies.

During the meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the ministers attended a presentation on the security management carried out by the National Police at major sporting events, with the match between Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid held last Saturday at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium as a reference.

Both delegations listened to the explanations from the Commissioner General for Public Safety, Juan Carlos Castro, on the security arrangements set up for the match: inspecting the underground, surveilling the areas where fans gather, the fans and the teams arriving for the match, checking the stadium perimeter and managing the public in the Bernabéu stands.

The Chief Commissioner, together with the heads of the police intervention units and the National Sports Office, also detailed the operation carried out by the Organisational Control Unit for the Santiago Bernabéu, from where the National Police coordinates management of security inside and outside the stadium, with support from the drone unit, fire brigade, Red Cross, SAMUR and Real Madrid's security teams.

Police and migration cooperation

The police cooperation in the field of sport that was proposed on Monday extends the "extraordinary" collaboration that already exists between the two countries when it comes to police matters, according to what the two ministers said during the meeting in Madrid. "We are committed and very willing to continue strengthening this path of mutual trust in order to continue fighting terrorism, violent radicalisation and organised crime," said Grande-Marlaska.

In the area of migration, the Minister for Home Affairs thanked his counterpart for Morocco's "solid commitment" in the fight against people-smuggling mafias, and praised its status as a "loyal and reliable partner" of Spain and the European Union in the current context of migratory pressure on the European continent.

Grande-Marlaska referred to the bilateral Spanish-Moroccan collaboration in migratory matters as "a clear example of effective cooperation" that has made it possible to "significantly" reduce the number of arrivals on the Peninsula, "as well as assaults and uncontrolled arrivals" through the fenced perimeter at Ceuta and Melilla. The two ministers undertook to organise a new session of the Permanent Hispano-Moroccan Migration Dialogue Group, which last met in Marrakech on 21 October and will take place in Madrid in the near future.

Acknowledgement of collaboration during the flooding in Spain

The Minister for Home Affairs thanked his counterpart for the teams sent by Morocco to help clean up the sludge in the province of Valencia after the flooding there. "Quantitatively and qualitatively, the aid provided by Morocco in the province of Valencia has been of enormous value in human, health and economic terms," he said.

On the other hand, Grande-Marlaska has conveyed to Laftit his desire to continue strengthening cooperation with the Straits of Gibraltar Passage Operation, which in 2024 recorded record highs for all embarkation data. The two delegations have agreed to hold a new joint Spanish-Moroccan commission in Madrid next May to finalise preparations for the 2025 Straits of Gibraltar Passage Operation.

Non official translation