The Moroccan community in Gibraltar faces administrative difficulties linked to the absence of consular services and travel constraints. Solutions are being studied to facilitate their approaches.

In Gibraltar, British overseas territory, the Moroccan community installed for several decades has expressed an increasing need for administrative support adapted to its particular situation.Even though links with Morocco remain solid and attachment to the kingdom is never questioned, certain practical challenges linked to the absence of proximity services continue to pose concrete difficulties for the community on site.

According to the media, among the main concerns mentioned, the absence of a Moroccan consulate on the spot constitutes a brake for the essential procedures such as the renewal of the national identity card, the passport or the obtaining of legal documents. In the current state, these formalities require a trip to Morocco, sometimes with an extended stay due to the administrative processing time.

According to the same source, some residents explain that when they apply for passport, they are forced to stay in the kingdom until the new document is received, which can take up to three weeks. A situation difficult to reconcile with professional and family commitments.Read also: Morocco-Gibraltar: BCP is invited to bilateral cooperation

Faced with this situation, several members of the community offer practical adjustments, such as the possibility of keeping their old passport while the new is issued, in order to allow them to return to Gibraltar. This suggestion is part of a desire to respect Moroccan procedures,while taking into account specific realities linked to mobility.

In addition, another element is underlined: maritime links to morocco. Currently, only the DFDS company provides a bimonthly crossing connecting gibraltar to Tangier Med via Algeciras. If this connection represents a precious link with the country of origin, according to the Moroccans of Gibraltar, its limited frequency makes travel less flexible, in particular for urgent administrative procedures or family obligations.

In addition, the mobility of residents of Moroccan origin is sometimes constrained by aspects linked to their status of stay. Manny do not have British nationality or European residence cards allowing them to easily cross the Spanish border. For them, each trip requires a Schengen visa, whose procedure remains expensive and long.

These circumstances, although specific to Gibraltar, in no way question the efforts made by Moroccan institutions in terms of consular services abroad. The kingdom has multiplied initiatives to strengthen links with its nationals around the world, in particular by local campaigns, mobile consulates and special attention paid to the diaspora. In the case of Gibraltar, the challenges are more of the geographic and legal constraints specific to the territory.

It is in this logic that concrete proposals emerge, carried by cit