The first ferry available for passengers between Morocco and Spain arrived at 10:30 am, Moroccan time (two more in mainland Spain), after two years of inactivity due to the pandemic.
It was the
Tarifa Jet,
belonging to the FRS company.
It has capacity for 777 people and 170 vehicles.
But it arrived with only 49 passengers and without any cars, as prescribed by the regulations set by the maritime authorities.
As of Monday, entry with vehicles will be allowed, which is how most of those who use the ship usually travel.
More information
Interior begins preparations for Operation Crossing the Strait after the end of the crisis with Morocco
This Tuesday the weather was grey, but everything else was smiles: from the travelers and from the port authorities waiting at the foot of the ship.
There were almost more journalists than passengers.
The director of the General Society of the Tanger Ville Port (SGTV), Mohamed Ouanaya, stated that it was logical that there would be little influx on the first day.
“It's not easy to set up a trip overnight with kids,” he explained.
“But the important thing is that we are already underway.
There are only two months left for Operation Crossing the Strait [which is called Marhaba, “welcome” in Arabic] to start, and this is a good time to put the whole mechanism in motion.”
Among those arriving were many Moroccans residing in Spain who speak Spanish fluently.
Mohamed Eddahbat, 48 years old and a resident of the Costa del Sol, arrived with his wife and his son.
And he said, like most of those consulted, that the boat is cheaper – the ticket costs 43.50 euros – and more comfortable than the plane.
The PCR test, mandatory to enter Morocco, is not necessary if the health passport with the complete guideline is provided.
Fatima Zhora, 35, also arrived with her son, her husband and a large suitcase.
"We have prepared everything at night, when we found out that they opened today," she explained.
"Traveling by ship there is no weight limit with suitcases."
Arrival at the port of Tarifa of the first ferry from Tangier after the reestablishment of passenger traffic. PACO PUENTES (EL PAÍS)
Once inside the ship, the FRS company had improvised a small video recording studio to interview passengers and post their impressions on social networks.
"We had never been two years without sailing," explained a company spokesman.
"And customers really like that other passengers explain their travel experience on the networks."
Kidaye, a 45-year-old businessman from Tangier who intends to spend a week in Marbella (Málaga), explained that he has recently been traveling by plane.
"But if I went by plane once a month, now by boat I will go to Spain almost every weekend," he explained.
Return with few passengers
The trip from Tangier to Tarifa only carried 14 passengers.
Among them was Toñi Gil, with her eight-year-old son Mehdi, and a friend, Paloma Puerto.
Gil said that she arrived by plane from Seville to Tangier with Ryanair on Friday night and that she intended to return on Monday, but the company postponed the return.
“And without thinking twice, we took advantage of the fact that there was a boat.
When you have a child, it is much more comfortable.
We hadn't come to Morocco for three years”, she points out.
Ronny Moriana, 49, general director of FRS Iberia, the company that transports the most passengers in the Strait, was also traveling on the ship.
Moriana explained that before the pandemic, his company had a thousand employees working between the two shores, and now it only has 450. The rest are expected to be incorporated between now and June, when Operation Crossing the Strait begins.
“I hope that by then the land border between Ceuta and Morocco will be open.
Because if it does not open, entrances through Tarifa and Algeciras can be congested this summer, ”he indicated.
Moriana commented that, although most of the seven FRS ships have been working in the Strait with only ro-ro transport - not counting the passengers between Ceuta and Algeciras, which have been transporting since June 2020 -, it is from now when will they begin to recover part of the money they have lost in these two years without passenger traffic with Morocco.
The director of FRS explained that the maintenance of a ship costs between 1.2 and 2 million euros.
“We maritime companies usually recover in two summer months what we lose the rest of the year.
So let's hope that the next Operation of the Crossing of the Strait goes well, ”he stressed.
The Moroccan Merchant Navy announced on Friday that it was authorizing maritime passenger traffic.
Since Monday, long-distance trips have already been operating, from the French ports of Sète and Marseille, and from the Italian port of Genoa.
Thus, among the long-distance journeys, the
La Girolata ship,
from the company La Meridionale, left Marseille on Monday at eight in the afternoon and is expected to arrive at the port of Tanger Med on Wednesday at noon, after 40 hours crossing
In addition to FRS Iberia, the Moroccan Inter Shipping operates on the Tarifa-Tangier line, which will start working from next week.
At the moment, only two FRS ships cover the route on a daily basis.
One in the morning and one in the afternoon.
The Strait is recovering, little by little, the old and long-awaited normality.
Also, with the usual problems, in relation to visas.
Arriving in Tarifa, an hour after setting sail from Tangier, most of the passengers got off without any problem.
But Aziz Bghiyel, 42, a resident of Belgium, who had traveled with his brother, Mohamed, stayed on the ground waiting for his brother to get off.
“To travel they ask you for a hotel reservation and to show that you have at least 500 euros.
I hope they let him pass, because he has a thousand euros”.
Inma Álvarez travels to Tangier to visit her husband in a city prison. PACO PUENTES (EL PAÍS)
Return trip to Tangier
On the return trip to Tangier, at seven in the evening, the ship was already loaded with 113 passengers from Tarifa, more than twice as many as in the morning.
Among them, Inma Álvarez, 37, and her sister-in-law, Yésica González, 34. They live in Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz) and intend to visit their husbands, who are prisoners in the prison of Tánger 1, accused of drug trafficking while working on a fishing boat.
“But they didn't have anything, huh?
That yes I say it”, clarifies González.
The two women explain that they traveled on one of the last boats that left Tangier for Tarifa, when Morocco closed the border on March 13, 2020. "Since then we haven't seen our husbands," says Álvarez.
“I have had a girl who is two years old and she still does not know her father.
We came by plane once, but they didn't let us see them in jail because of the quarantine.
And now we had a plane trip from Seville on Sunday with e-Dreams, they canceled it.
And luckily they have put the boats again”.
In the ship's duty-free shop, the most precious product is tobacco.
But until Wednesday, in principle, it will not be available.
Wine also tends to sell well.
Above all, among Spaniards who live in Morocco, since during Ramadan the few supermarkets in the country that dispense alcohol are prohibited from selling it in this holy month for Muslims.
Santiago is a 45-year-old Spaniard who has lived in Tangier for 11 years.
He works in the garment sector.
He left by plane this Tuesday morning for Malaga, and from there he traveled by rented car to Algeciras.
“He had a flight booked for tomorrow Wednesday from Malaga to Tangier.
But as soon as I found out that the boat was available, I gave up the plane ticket and came by boat.
I'd rather sleep at home tonight than in a hotel."
Most of the 113 passengers traveling in the afternoon to Tangier were of Moroccan origin.
Like Soraya, 40, and her daughter Sara, 15. Soraya works as a waitress in Malaga.
She will arrive in Tangier this Tuesday, she will leave her daughter until Sunday, and will return by boat to Tarifa on Wednesday.
And on Sunday she will be waiting for her daughter in the port of Cadiz.
"Everything is much easier and cheaper with the boat," explain her mother and daughter.
At eight in the afternoon in Spain, two hours less in Morocco, a man's voice was heard on the ship's public address system announcing in Spanish: "Ladies and gentlemen, we announce that in five minutes we will be arriving at the port of Tangier."
And the message was received with applause by the passengers.
But the policemen in charge of stamping the passports, who usually travel on the ship and usually carry out the process during the voyage, did not get on the ship until 8:25 p.m.
And then they were greeted with humor by several passengers with the song
Sla or slam ala rasoul allah
, which is usually sung at weddings, baptisms or someone's victory.
At 8:35 p.m., most of the passengers were still on the ship.
“We are going to forgive him for being the first day,” a woman of Moroccan origin commented in Spanish.
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