The formulas for trying to enter Europe irregularly are constantly being reinvented. Faced with the increase in police pressure that Morocco exerts on its coasts to prevent the departure of herdsmen or the ferry control it has at the Ceuta and Melilla border crossings, the mafias have found a new vein. For weeks, the asylum and inadmissible rooms at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport have collapsed due to the fraudulent use of flights by the official Moroccan airline, Royal Air Maroc. The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, went to the neighboring country yesterday to try to increase collaboration in the matter.
The modus operandi is simple, while not involving the risks of climbing a fence or climbing a cayuco. These are migrants from Kenya, Senegal or Morocco who board a plane from Casablanca bound for countries such as El Salvador, Bolivia or Brazil, but with one essential element: a stopover in Madrid. These South American countries do not ask for a visa for these nationals from African countries, nor - at the moment - do you need a transit visa to stop over in the international zone of Barajas. Once they land in the capital, they get rid of their passports and go to ask for international protection.
This dynamic is becoming common with the flight from Casablanca that lands in Madrid at 8:00 p.m. The figure varies every day, according to police sources, but up to 300 migrants have accumulated, despite the fact that the Interior ordered their transfer to a center for the internment of foreigners, in the face of criticism from the Prosecutor's Office.
The intention of Interior is to cover this entry way. The minister, after meeting with his counterpart, announced that the Government is considering introducing airport transit visas, as the Unified Police Union demands. These visas must be applied for in Casablanca when checking in: if the airline allows passengers to fly without a visa they should be penalized.
The police union asks to extend this requirement to all people from Senegal, Mali, Kenya and Morocco. According to ministerial sources in La Vanguardia, from today Saturday will be mandatory for people with a Kenyan passport. For Moroccans, according to the same sources, this requirement is not foreseen. Without going into details, Marlaska assured that this measure would not conflict with Spain's asylum system.
The minister highlighted from Rabat the "intense cooperation" between Spain and Morocco in migration. The meeting also addressed the improvements that Spain is introducing in the border crossings of Ceuta and Melilla, the collaboration in matters of civil protection and the balance of the last operation crossing the Straits. The visit is "a good proof of relevant and fraternal relations in all areas", stated Marlaska, who reported that in 2023 14 joint anti-terrorist operations were carried out.
