MADRID, 4 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government has assured this Tuesday that Operation Paso del Estrecho will be “absolutely conditioned” in 2021 to the situation of the pandemic, both in Spain and Morocco and has explained that decisions will be made on this issue in the coming weeks.
Operation Paso del Estrecho took place regularly between June 15 and September 15, a few months in which citizens of origin or families from North Africa, mainly Morocco and Algeria, residing in European countries cross the Iberian Peninsula to get to these countries during the holidays.
Asked about this issue at the press conference after the Council of Ministers, the spokeswoman for the Executive, María Jesús Montero, explained that “there is still no decision” taken, but that there will be as the date of the operation approaches and the accumulated incidents are known, not only from Spain and Morocco, but also from other European countries from which the travelers come.
We would also have to wait to know if the protocol regarding the free movement of people in the EU will be applied to these people, or another type of protocol, as indicated.
Montero recalled that it is a “massive operation” that “concentrates an important volume” of people in the country and that, in any case, this operation will have a “specific approach” by the ministries and autonomous communities responsible for this matter.
But, currently, he has insisted it is “premature to advance any question” on the subject.
The device of this operation was launched in the country 34 years ago and has only been suspended in 2020, as a result of the Covid-19 health crisis. In fact, the border with Morocco has been closed since March last year.
The last time it was held, in 2019, a total of 3,340,045 passengers and 760,215 vehicles crossed the Strait between June 15 and September 15 in the departure and return phases.
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