After two years of interruption and knowing that Aid Al Adha will take place around July 9 or 10, we will not be surprised to learn that all feedback from the field shows a strong demand for Operation Marhaba this year.
The offer and the organization that will be deployed on both sides, in Morocco and Spain, anticipate this demand. This is what did on Thursday 5 May, the joint Moroccan-Spanish transit commissionduring his meeting at the Ministry of the Interior in Rabat.
The meeting was co-chaired by Khalid Zerouali, Wali Director of Migration and Border Surveillance and Isabel Goicoechea Aranguen, Spanish Undersecretary of State for the Interior, with about fifteen participants from each side covering all devices such as passenger transport, customs, police, security, health, rest areas…
Reservation required to access the ports
Dispositions « exceptional » were taken for the operation this year, explains Mrs. Amane FethallahDirector of the Merchant Navy:
- 32 ships will ensure 572 rotations per week and will offer a weekly passenger capacity of 471,026 passengers and 124,897 vehicles.
- “On the Tanger Med Algesiras axis, which is the most coveted and which captures 60% of global traffic, 14 ships will ensure 47 rotations per day and will offer a daily capacity of 40,500 passengers and 11,000 vehicles.
For the first time, freight traffic (trucks) will be separated from passenger traffic and two vessels will be reserved. So, 16 ships in total will be dedicated to the Tangier Med-Algeciras axis during Marhaba 2022; a capacity unprecedented. - » The reservation will be compulsory on all lines and for the first time on short-haul lines (Tangier Ville –Tarifa and Tanger Med-Algesiras). adds Ms. Fethallah. This measure will greatly contribute to the fluidity and speed of operations in the ports and will make it possible to avoid any possible congestion. “This will be the first time that reservations will be required for short-haul connections,” specifies our interlocutor. This measure, which will be inaugurated during Operation Marhaba, will subsequently be maintained throughout the year. This will also be the case in Spanish ports.
In other words, if you are used to driving to Spain or returning to Morocco via a Spanish port, do not count on buying tickets inside the port enclosure. Take your tickets in advance. This measure will allow the various services of the port, customs, police, the Mohammed V Foundation, to adapt the workforce to the expected flow. - Unlike previous campaigns, the port of Tarifa will remain open throughout the Marhaba period, including during peak days.
- “The interchangeability of tickets between companies will be maintained during peak days”.
For connections with Spain, 5 Spanish ports will be affected by the operation: Motril, Almeria, Tarifa, Algesira and Barcelona, we learned from the same source.
Ms. Fethallah also speaks of a Morocco-Spain mirror effect. In other words, the Spanish side will make efforts similar to those of Morocco in terms of manpower, logistics and organizational arrangements.
Here is the list of lines that Operation Marhaba will take as a whole:
–Tangier-Med – Algeciras: 14 ships, 329 rotations per week. Weekly capacity: 283,000 passengers and 76,000 vehicles.
The companies concerned by this link are AML, Balearia, FRS Iberia, RFS, Trasmediterranea, Intershipping.
–Tangier City -Tarifa: 4 ships, 168 weekly rotations, weekly capacity of 93,000 passengers and 16,000 vehicles. Companies: FRS Iberia and Intershipping.
–Nador–Almeria: 4 ships, 48 rotations per week, weekly capacity of 61,000 passengers and 20,000 vehicles. Companies: Balearia and Trasmediterranea.
-Nador-Motril: 1 ship, 7 rotations per week, capacity of 6,800 passengers and 2,800 vehicles. Company: Trasmediterranea.
-Al Hoceima – Motril: 1 ship, 4 rotations per week, capacity of 3,900 passengers and 1,600 light vehicles. Company: Trasmediterranea.
-Tangier Med – Marseille: 3 ships, 3 rotations per week, capacity of 1,380 passengers and 645 vehicles. Company: La Méridionale.
-Nador – Sète: 3 ships, 5 rotations per week, capacity of 7,700 passengers and 2,440 vehicles. Companies: GNV, Balearia.
-Nador-Barcelona. 2 ships, 3 rotations per week, capacity of 5,200 passengers and 1,900 vehicles. Company: GNV.
-Tangier Med – Barcelona-Genoa-Sète. 3 ships, 5 rotations per week, capacity of 9,000 passengers and 3,000 vehicles. Companies: GNV, Balearia.
-Tangier Med- Citavecchia: 2 rotations per week, with a capacity of 4,000 passengers and 1,100 vehicles. GNV company.
Morocco and Spain prepare Operation Marhaba 2022