The invasion of Ceuta by some 80,000 people, mostly Moroccans, has generated a social crisis in the city and a political crisis throughout the country, the scope of which has yet to be defined. The most striking thing about this crisis is the interest of the Government of Spain in exonerating the Moroccan Executive of any participation, by action or omission, in such a massive and concentrated mobilization, something that clashes with common sense and that is beginning to be denied in Spanish police reports. If the participation of the Moroccan Government were admitted, the Spanish Government would be forced to take retaliatory measures against the neighboring country. The problem is that the interconnection of the two countries is so great that it is difficult to tighten the screws on Morocco without hurting itself.
The reader has had the opportunity this summer to find political analyzes that question Spain's international alignment, while praising the diplomatic skills of Morocco, which has become a main partner of the United States and Israel, two of the few great war powers that not only threaten with their military arsenal, but also use it daily on various fronts. However, little focus is placed on the commercial interrelation of Spain and Morocco, especially on the companies that are the protagonists of these exchanges.
The sale and purchase of products between the two countries amounted to 22,750 million euros last year, with a balance favorable to Spain, which sells 1,910 million more than it buys. However, these figures, which place this country as the main trading partner, hide a business interconnection between the two countries that is much deeper and which is one of the reasons that invite us to be careful with the possible measures that may be adopted, since retaliation against Morocco may fall directly on Spanish companies.
The Government of the neighboring country assures that there are 17,000 Spanish companies operating there, of which more than 350 have permanent operations (factories, plantations, etc.) in very diverse sectors, according to the ICEX. These companies produce there and their main customer is the parent company in Spain, which then distributes the product throughout its different markets around the world. Low labor costs and proximity make Morocco an ideal country for large and medium-sized Spanish companies, so if commercial retaliation were now taken against this country, we would be shooting ourselves in the foot.
Morocco has largely become a clothing and car parts workshop for Spanish companies, as well as the orchard of some of the large Spanish agri-food companies. Proximity and low labor costs make it unbeatable. The real cost of an hour of work in Spain is 26.4 euros, which is more than five times what it costs in Morocco. If measured with the SMI, in Spain it is 1,424.5 euros, compared to 297 euros in the neighboring country.
Morocco is an important country for Inditex, as it is one of its 10 key supply clusters, a relevance that increased after the pandemic, when the company decided to bring production closer together. To “guarantee an agile and effective response to demand, a significant part of our garments are manufactured in local markets such as Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Turkey,” it states in its 2025 annual report. The global clothing giant has 447 factories that supply it from Africa, the vast majority in Morocco, and which are owned by third parties. Other relevant Spanish companies in this sector, such as El Corte Inglés or Tendam (Cortefiel, Springfield or Women'Secret), also have this country as one of their workshops.
In the automobile sector, the large Spanish companies producing automotive parts have also established themselves there to a large extent, accompanying two of the largest car manufacturers, such as Renault and Stellantis. The Burgos companies Antolín and Gestamp have factories in Kénitra and Tangier, and CIE Automotive and Ficosa are also suppliers of parts for the two large manufacturers. The automobile is Morocco's main export sector, with industrial centers in Tangier and Casablanca, where Renault's low-end range is produced and assembled, and in Kénitra, a coastal city near Rabat, where the Stellantis centers that produce small vehicles of the Peugeot, Opel, Citroën and Fiat brands are located. The Dacia Sandero, from the Renault Group, is the big star. This model is, precisely, the best-selling car in Spain since 2022 and previously occupied high positions, and all units come from the two Moroccan plants. In 2025, 38,548 Dacia Sandero were sold in Spain and in the first eight months of this year it continues to retain the throne, with 23,769 units, ahead of the locally manufactured Seat Ibiza, of which 4,000 fewer units have been sold.
But there are other sectors, such as agriculture and fishing, where the Spanish presence is quieter, but very important. Morocco has 8.7 million hectares for agricultural use, equivalent to 12.5% of the territory, of which 21% are irrigated, half with drip facilities. It is an essential sector for employment, in a country with an unemployment rate of 13%. However, the structure of the farms (very small), the low training of the rural workforce, poor marketing, scarcity of financing, and price intervention, among other factors, mean that their performance is between 30% and 70% lower than their potential, according to the ICEX in its country report.
Well-known companies in Spain are located in Morocco, such as Ebro Foods, which has the largest rice factory in the country, with a capacity of 50,000 tons per year, or the Borges Group, which has a stake in one of the largest table olive packers. But there are many Spanish Andalusian and Levantine SMEs operating in the agricultural sector. An example is the Almeria-based Agroatlas, which has moved from El Ejido to Agadir, where it has plantations totaling 1,000 hectares that supply vegetables to Mercadona or Tesco (United Kingdom). The same thing happens with the Murcian companies Alicomar, Agrícola Perichán or Agrucapers. These companies have brought along other Spanish companies that are experts in the infrastructure of crops under plastic (Criado and López), in deep-frozen fruits and vegetables and cold logistics (Frigodar) or in seeds (Semillas Fitó).
Economic interconnection, in addition to immigration control or collaboration in the fight against terrorism, is a powerful reason why all PSOE and PP governments have compromised with Morocco, although Pedro Sánchez has reached a level that is incomprehensible.
