Spanish ships return to Morocco three years later

The last time the Sirena de Barbate had fished in Moroccan waters was on December 14, 2011. And the job was interrupted by an urgent notice sent by the Ministry of the Marine Environment of the then socialist government of Rodríguez Zapatero: they had to leave those waters immediately . Rabat thus reacted to the decision of the European Parliament to vote against the extension of the trade agreement between the EU and the Alaouite kingdom. Manuel Pacheco, the skipper, and the other four crew members left the fishing ground that day to wander for years by different fishing gear: first octopus in Cape Trafalgar and then gear and whatever was on the coast of Tarifa.

It's Monday and almost three years later that longliner raises the Moroccan flag again – along with the Spanish one – to head south and dedicate himself to what he has always done: saber fish fishing, the most profitable in those latitudes. Last Saturday, his usual crew – since 2011 he has lost a sailor who has been replaced by Manuel Pacheco Jr. (the name applies to both) – passed the inspection in Tangier before the fishing authorities of that country. Like the Raquel and Sheila that sails next to her. And the Chipiona, an early riser, which set sail the night before and has just docked with a discreet load of 150 kilos on the deck.

They are the first three fishing boats -another 24 in the province of Cadiz will continue on their way in the next few hours- that have taken advantage of the new EU agreement by which Morocco will receive 40 million euros a year (30 from the community institutions and 10 from shipowners from eleven countries with permits to return to those waters).

The sector trusts that the new four-year pact will serve to revive part of the Barbatian fleet and give a break to a people drowned by the crisis, with unemployment rates unknown in Europe. At the moment, only three fishing boats from this Cadiz municipality have decided to leave