Following the high-level meeting between Madrid and Rabat, the President of Melilla, Juan José Imbroda, has rejected claims that the process to reopen commercial customs is «complete». He accused the Spanish government of repeating empty promises ever since the crossing was shut down in 2018, without delivering any concrete progress. Speaking at a press conference, Imbroda remarked sarcastically that «some of us are still waiting for the actual opening of commercial customs», stressing that repeated announcements have yet to translate into real action. He insisted that a return to normal operations will not happen «because Morocco does not want it». He also dismissed what he called the «experiments» of recent years, noting that they never resulted in genuine commercial traffic, «only one truck ever passed through», he said. Imbroda argued that these steps fall far short of true customs normalization, contradicting the Spanish government's statements after the latest bilateral summit. In his view, the border remains closed to trade under the conditions that existed before 2018, when Melilla maintained a steady flow of exports to Morocco.
