After the diplomatic crisis between Morocco and Spain caused by the recent hosting of the leader of the Frente POLISARIO demanding the independence of Western Sahara Ibrahim Ghali for treatment following his injury to Covid in April 2020

As of tomorrow, maritime passenger traffic between Morocco and Spain will resume, as announced by the Moroccan Ministry of Transport, following the normalization of relations between the two neighbours and the closure of a diplomatic crisis that has lasted for about a year.

In a statement, the Moroccan Ministry of Transport and Logistics said that "as part of the reopening of the maritime routes between Morocco and Spain, passenger services will resume between the ports of Tangier-Medium, Tangier-City, and the ports of the Green Island and Tafia in Spain, beginning on Tuesday."

Morocco has suspended passenger traffic across the Mediterranean Sea with its northern neighbour since the advent of the Cofid pandemic in early 2020, without resuming it when it reopened its borders for passenger flights, owing to a diplomatic crisis with Madrid that erupted last spring.

In the context of this crisis, Rabat excluded Spanish ports from the process of crossing Moroccan migrants residing in Europe last summer, a process that usually saw intense movement. The movement of Moroccan tourists to Spain across the sea has also been suspended.

But Friday the two countries announced the opening of a new phase in their relations on the basis of a road map, including, most notably, the "maritime reconnection of travellers between the two countries," during a visit to Rabat by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to confirm reconciliation between the two kingdoms.

The move followed Madrid's change of attitude towards the Western Sahara conflict in favour of Rabat in mid-March, by supporting Morocco's proposed autonomy project to resolve the dispute.