Passenger and vehicle traffic through the Spanish-occupied Melilla has dropped by 34% during this year’s Operation Marhaba, a large-scale annual transit operation facilitating travel for Moroccan expatriates returning home for the summer, Spanish media El Farode Melilla reported.
Melilla Port Authority’s President, Manuel Quevedo, confirmed the sharp decline, blaming it on a significant reduction in ferry service, and weekly crossings between Melilla and mainland Spain dropped from 22 to 12. As well as the deployment of an outdated ferry with insufficient cabins for family travel.
Official figures show a loss of nearly 7,000 vehicles and tens of thousands of passengers compared to the same period in 2024, with an overall 34.8% decline in vehicles and 34.6% drop in passenger numbers.
The situation has dealt a financial blow to Melilla’s port operations, ferry companies, and related services. The maritime station alone lost an estimated EUR 190,000 in revenue, and Quevedo said overall losses across the port logistics chain are likely far higher.
At the center of the controversy is the ferry assigned to the Almería-Melilla route, which Quevedo says formally complies with Spanish government contract terms but falls short of real-world needs. The vessel is 20 years old, the maximum permitted age, and offers only 204 cabin berths, which is inadequate for families accustomed to traveling together.
“In reality, that number often drops to just 100 available cabins,” Quevedo explained, forcing more than 900 people to travel in seats, many overnight.
Damaging Operation Marhaba
The decline is especially damaging during Operation Marhaba, which is among the world’s largest seasonal migration events, with millions of Moroccans living in Europe crossing back to North Africa by sea. The Melilla-Almería route has historically been a key corridor in this operation. While traffic to Málaga only dropped by 1% and Motril by 13%, the Almería line collapsed by 60%.
Quevedo and Melilla’s regional government had urged the national maritime authority, Marina Mercante, to impose stricter criteria, especially regarding cabin capacity, when awarding the ferry contract. However, those recommendations were ignored, allowing a ship that “doesn’t meet Melilla’s needs” to take over the critical summer route.
The official has now called on Spain’s central government to urgently revise the maritime contract for 2026, estimating that a small adjustment costing EUR 800,000 per year could restore economic losses and passenger confidence. “This isn’t just about money. It’s about ensuring proper connectivity and respect for the people of Melilla,” Quevedo said. “We’re not asking for anything strange, just a standard 4 to 5% contract modification.”
The traffic drop is also impacting Melilla’s competitiveness, with neighboring routes like Almería-Nador and Motril-Al Hoceima gaining passengers. “We are handing business to our competitors due to poor planning,” Quevedo added.
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