The rift between Spain and Morocco continues with the latter announcing that its citizens wishing to return during the summer can't do it through Spain.

Instead, they will have to use French or Italian ports, meaning that it will be a lot more expensive for them – Motril is the shortest sea crossing for those driving down from Italy or even from France if they come across the Eastern Pyrenees.

In fact, they will only allow ferries leaving from Sète (France) and Genova (Italy) to dock in Moroccan ports.

This decision has taken the wind out of the extremist, right-wing party, who were demanding that the Spanish Government cancelled Operación Paso del Estrecho (the annual flow of Moroccans returning home for summer) to teach Morocco a lesson, but it is Morocco that has done the cancelling, leaving VOX looking pretty silly.

But politics aside, the big losers are Moroccans heading home having to pay a lot more for the journey thanks to the lengthy sea journey (by comparison) and, of course Motril Port which will now lose this lucrative income for the second consecutive year.

We’re talking about 300,000 ferry passengers and their cars, which was the total for 2019. In fact, the Operación Paso del Estrecho or OPE handles 3.2m passengers mainly through Málaga, Algeciras, Almería and Motril ports. This means that around 3,000 jobs will be lost (i.e., an extra workforce no longer need) either directly or indirectly on the Costa Tropical.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada Andalucia)