Surely Morocco is interested in giving this image to the world?
The 241 million followers he has on his X network have seen Elon Musk compare the massive influx of immigrants, mostly Moroccans, into Ceuta with the zombies from World War Z. Italy has announced border migration controls that will almost certainly affect Moroccans above all, including those born in Europe or those with papers, which will deepen the stigma against a population that has always suffered institutional racism in all EU countries. And most importantly: the death toll attempting to cross the border, many of them minors, climbs every day, and it is assumed that it will far exceed a hundred people, making it the most serious tragedy of its kind in recent times. Some young people have preferred to try everything and risk dying rather than stay in their country. What does this say about Morocco?
With only a few days to go until the celebrations of the 27th anniversary of Mohamed VI's ascension to the throne, the images from Ceuta are a low blow to attempts to sell the world that Morocco is a modern and stable country, and that it is in full economic growth. What has now remained in the retina of the whole world is that young people are fleeing desperately and that the country is part of what, according to the English ultra-leader Nigel Farage, puts "civilization" at risk. It's not all black or white; the Moroccan regime, dictatorial, is experiencing a moment of economic prosperity in some respects, but there is a majority of the population that sees none of this. It is the two-speed Morocco that even the king acknowledges. And all this in a young country – the average age is in the thirties – with hundreds of thousands of young people between 15 and 25 years old who have studied, or not, but who have no job or prospect of a future.
The Spanish government will have to give explanations not only for the management of these days but also because the intelligence services did not know or, even worse, did not inform about what was being prepared. For the moment, the thesis that it was all the fault of the mafias is still maintained. But the testimonies of immigrants and journalists who have been in the area these days corroborate that on Thursday and Friday the Moroccan border police did not prevent passage and, in some cases, may even have encouraged it. The proof is that, when on Friday afternoon they reappeared with force, entries suddenly decreased. Whether it was instigated by the regime or not – this will be difficult, if not impossible, for them to officially admit – to blackmail Spain over the Polisario issue, over relations with Algeria, over its pro-Palestinian position or over the claim to Ceuta and Melilla, the truth is that none of this could have happened without the consent or passivity of those responsible on the Moroccan side.
What will Morocco gain from this crisis, if it intended to gain anything? It remains to be seen. Perhaps, as in the past, Spain and Europe will give in on something. But, for the moment, the result is a hundred dead, shattered families, an international image of a zombie country in crisis and even more unbearable pressure on all honest and legal immigrants who work and live in Europe, and who will now be more pointed out and persecuted by a far-right that is now boasting. Neither the selection nor the future World Cup will be able to clear up this bad image.