In a few hours, the Spanish Prime Minister will meet the mayor-president of Melilla who plans to seek help from Madrid. Arguing that Spain is recovering from the crisis, he believes that the city needs to strengthen its sovereignty. Juan José Imbroda, the mayor-president of the Spanish enclave of Melilla, will meet Tuesday the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy. He has already prepared for this meeting he was awaiting since last summer. Inbroda intends to ask for more financial resources for the benefit of the city, during the next five years. To him, the time is more than suitable to make such a request. During his trip to Madrid and as quoted by Melillahoy online newspaper, Imbrola said : «The economy of this country is prospering. Spain is growing, and now there are opportunities that should be seized to get more money and do a lot of things». A local economy that works thanks to Morocco To defend his position, Imbroda is not only relying on the economic situation. In fact, Imbroda and Rajoy both belong to the same political family, namely the People's Party (PP). The mayor-president of Melilla also announced that Madrid's help will only strengthen the sovereignty of the enclave : «I believe that this city has a future, but I am convinced that it will be under the Spanish flag». Having been in office for 17 years, Imbroda pointed at the absence of a hegemonic party in Spain, indicating that this was «bad luck». Currently, Rajoy's government controls only a minority group in the lower house of the Spanish parliament. Moreover, the economy of Melilla is completely backed by Morocco. It evolves thanks to the daily flow of hawkers from Nador and Moroccan tourists, especially during the sales period (twice a year), which still remains insufficient for the economy to thrive. In Melilla, unemployment affects 24.6% of the active population, 20.5% among men and 30.7% among women. Its GDP is estimated at 1,494 million Euros, thus occupying the penultimate place in the ranking of autonomous regions and cities of Spain.
