At last, Motril Port has been put on the same footing as Málaga and Almería with the North-African ferry services.

For around a decade, Motril Port has been excluded from subsidies paid to the other two ports, despite Motril being the most direct route for Melilla and the one preferred by North-African ferry passengers.

The ferry that sailed yesterday belongs to the shipping company, Balearia, which has obtained a contract worth around four-million euros to provide this service.

The Spanish Government considers the sea communications between the penisular and this Spanish enclave city of Melilla as of ‘public interest;’ hence the subsidies.

The Melilla ferry, Hypatia de Alejandría, does three trips a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, which can be increased in frequency if there is more demand. This vessel can carry 880 passengers and 166 vehicles.

However, as we are locked down into our provinces, you can’t take the ferry unless you are a Melilla resident or travel for works purposes, for example. In other words, you can’t go there as a tourist.

Which brings us to ferries connecting with Moroccan ports, namely Tángiers, (ferry line, FRS) Nador and Alhucemas (ferry line Armas) which are waiting for the Moroccan Government to relax the Covid restrictions in order to operate.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)