Officials from Spain and Morocco have met in Madrid, at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior, within the framework of the Spanish-Moroccan Mixed Commission, to promote coordination in the preparation of Operation Crossing the Strait 2023 (OPE-23).
The meeting has served to specify the details of the Special Civil Protection Plan for the OPE-23, which will be closed in the coming weeks, and in which all the necessary aspects for the development of the device will be collected.
On the Spanish side, the undersecretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Isabel Goicoechea; the general director of Civil Protection and Emergencies, Leonardo Marcos; the general director of Coordination and Studies of the Secretary of State for Security, José Antonio Rodríguez; and the General Director of Traffic, Pere Navarro.
Also in attendance were officials from the General Directorate for the Maghreb, Mediterranean and Near East of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation; the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine and State Ports, the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, and representatives of other ministerial departments.
The Moroccan ambassador in Spain, Karima Benyaich; the director of Migration and Border Surveillance of Morocco, Khalid Zerouali; as well as senior officials of the General Directorate of National Security and the Royal Gendarmerie and representatives of different ministries of the North African country.
Operating Devices
The mixed commission has also addressed, among other issues, the operational devices that both countries are going to put in place to guarantee the development of the OPE-23, which will be similar to those established last year. In 2022, the Ministry of the Interior established a security device of 15,995 agents of the National Police and Guardia Civil.
The measures being studied by the civil protection officials of Spain and Morocco will ensure various objectives, among which the fluidity and safety of transit, assistance to travellers and the prevention and protection of public health stand out.
In addition, at the meeting the fleet plans that must guarantee an adequate offer for the daily traffic of passengers and vehicles have been shared. The reinforcements of troops that are going to be mobilised in the ports to guarantee the transit, both the one going from Europe to Africa and the one back in the second phase of the OPE-23, have also been addressed.
Lastly, both countries have agreed to strengthen and coordinate information exchange channels to continue working on aspects such as the management of busiest days, the possibility of exchanging tickets and other conditions of maritime crossings.
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