“Marhaba 2025. Between record-breaking numbers and the challenges of waiting

Economy of the East

Despite chronic criticism and frequent logistical challenges, Operation Marhaba continues to establish itself as one of the largest and most effective cross-border operations in the world, both in terms of scale and its emotional and patriotic symbolism for millions of Moroccans living abroad.

During a recent field visit to the port of Tarifa in southern Spain, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska expressed his great admiration for the operation, announcing that the 2025 edition set a new record for the number of passengers and vehicles heading south through the Strait of Gibraltar. The Spanish official explained that the number of passengers increased by 5.6% compared to the summer of 2024, while vehicles increased by 6.9%, making this season the largest since the initiative was launched in 1986.

Morocco at the center of field coordination

What was striking about Marlaska's remarks was not just the numbers, but the explicit recognition of the pivotal role Morocco plays in the success of this complex annual operation. He emphasized “the importance of exemplary and permanent coordination with the Moroccan partner,” stressing that the success on the ground cannot be achieved without close cooperation, from managing the ports to organizing the flow of transit.

In this context, the Spanish minister revealed that he met with the Consul General of the Kingdom of Morocco, as well as a representative of the Mohammed VI Foundation, which accompanies the community and provides administrative and social support services, in an attempt to facilitate their journey and minimize the burden of transit.

A transcontinental operation ... with multiple faces

Over the years, Operation Marhaba has moved beyond its seasonal dimension to become a massive, subcontinental operation that annually mobilizes more than 29,000 personnel representing various security, health, Red Crescent, translators, and social assistants. It also involves 20 Spanish official institutions and nine seaports, including the occupied ports of Ceuta and Melilla, which continue to symbolize the complex reality of sovereignty and borders between Morocco and Spain.

But against Madrid's record-breaking rhetoric, some Spanish media outlets, such as El Faro de Ceuta, are reporting less welcoming voices. A number of commentators have expressed dismay at what they describe as “congestion, pollution, and legal abuses,” questioning the real economic return from the crossing of millions of people who consume nothing on Spanish soil.

The other side of the coin: Daily Suffering and Humanitarian Concern

On the other hand, the Moroccan community abroad does not pay much attention to statistics or official statements, but is preoccupied with the details of daily crossings: Long queues, poor infrastructure, the moodiness of some inspection agents, and sometimes harsh bureaucratic treatment, especially at the crossing points in Ceuta and Melilla, where some practices are still reminiscent of a colonial history that has not yet been completely erased.

Despite these hardships, millions of Moroccans do not hesitate to embark on this annual journey, which has become a collective ritual of belonging and loyalty. Every summer, across the ports of Europe, Moroccans reaffirm their connection to their roots, as if to say, despite everything:

“We may be greeted harshly, searched with suspicion, discriminated against... but the tears of our mothers on arrival wipe away all fatigue and rearrange the meaning of home.”

Between Hope and Waiting...

The challenge today is not only to make Marhaba a logistical success, but also to turn it into a human experience that is worthy of Moroccans around the world and that truly honors their dignity and connection to the homeland.
A country is not only measured by the number of passing cars, but also by how welcoming it is to its people, wherever they are.