Melilla Does Not Want Motril to Be Excluded from the New Contract

The fact that the port of Motril has been left out of the maritime contract called by the General Directorate of Merchant Marine has not been well received in either Motril or Melilla. Francisco Cuenca, former socialist mayor of Granada, tells puentedemando.com that “this is outrageous, a new attack against Granada, and we are going to fight it.” In this line, a meeting was held this morning between the presidents of the respective port authorities, José García Fuentes and Víctor Gamero Garcia, to analyze the situation and consider the possibility of urging the Administration to include the Motril-Melilla connection in the new public interest contract.

Both presidents believe that the situation can be reversed, so that Melilla has, in addition to maritime connections with Almería and Málaga, also with Motril. The aids are granted to the lines considered as public interest connections, defined by a decree from 2007, when the Motril-Melilla line did not exist, and that after several allegations to the bidding processes, the connection between both cities has still not been added.

Both presidents consider that “leaving the Motril-Melilla connection out of the bonus system is clearly detrimental to the line, which currently has a high annual average of passengers, despite the ferry change that took place last May, operating then with another of greater capacity and speed, and not competing under real equal conditions.”

The regular line between both ports, due to its geographical location and proximity to other ports, is highly demanded to connect with the peninsula by the Melilla citizens, indicate both presidents, who describe the port infrastructure as a key piece for the economic development of both cities. Therefore, “it is essential to work continuously from both institutions, allowing the creation of expansion projects in passenger transport, goods, and sports-tourism developments that guarantee the future of the infrastructures,” they conclude.

Photo: provided