Morocco orders EFE and TVE to leave Castillejos while they were covering the charges

I do not have structured information or specialized access regarding the specific legal framework of Morocco, so I cannot technically describe the specific legal procedure that Moroccan authorities follow to withdraw accreditations from foreign journalists. My area of expertise is focused on the politics, institutions, and parliamentary and executive activity of Spain (and, derivatively, on matters related to them), not on the details of administrative, immigration, or press law of third countries like Morocco.

That said, I can offer you some general guidelines —not specific to Morocco— on how administrative mechanisms to grant and withdraw accreditations for foreign correspondents and journalists are usually structured in many states, and how you could seek precise information in the Moroccan case:

1. Nature of accreditation for foreign journalists

• In most countries, the accreditation of foreign correspondents depends on a government body (for example, a Ministry of Communication, Information, Foreign Affairs, or a government press office).
• Accreditation is usually an administrative act that:
  • Recognizes a person as a journalist/correspondent of a specific media outlet.
  • Allows access to institutions, press conferences, and sometimes a press visa or residence permit.
• The withdrawal of accreditation is usually connected with:
  • Press/communication regulations.
  • Immigration and visa regulations.
  • Administrative sanctioning regimes (for example, for considering that some condition of the accreditation has been violated).

2. Where this procedure is usually regulated

• In many states, the rules on accreditation and withdrawal of accreditations appear in:
  • Press, audiovisual communication, or information laws.
  • Government decrees or regulations that develop those laws.
  • Ministerial orders or internal circulars that set criteria to grant, renew, or revoke accreditations.
• In parallel, the status of the foreign journalist may be linked to:
  • Immigration legislation.
  • Visa regimes (for example, press visa).

3. Typical elements of the procedure (comparative level)

Without referring specifically to Morocco, many legal systems provide, at least on paper, some of these elements:

• Competent authority: a ministry or government press office processes the accreditation and can decide its renewal or withdrawal.
• Reasons for withdrawal: usually stated in relatively broad terms (non-compliance with national legislation, misuse of accreditation, false information, activities incompatible with the status of journalist, etc.).
• Form of the act: the withdrawal is formalized through an administrative decision notified to the interested person (sometimes also to the media outlet).
• Possibility of appeal: in states with guaranteed administrative procedures, that decision can be appealed administratively and, ultimately, before the courts. In practice, for foreign journalists the immediate impact (loss of visa, obligation to leave the country) usually makes effective challenge very difficult.

4. How to specifically document yourself about Morocco

To know precisely the Moroccan legal procedure, I recommend:

• Consulting the text of Moroccan legislation on press and communication (often called “press code” or similar) in official sources of the Kingdom of Morocco.
• Reviewing visa and residence regulations for foreign journalists on the official pages of the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs or its press offices.
• Analyzing reports from international organizations and NGOs specialized in press freedom (for example, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists, etc.), which usually describe, with examples, how these procedures are applied in practice.
• If you need detailed legal advice, consult a lawyer specialized in Moroccan law or organizations that assist journalists and media in that country.

In summary: I cannot detail the specific and current legal procedure in Morocco because it exceeds my area of expertise and sources, but I can help you interpret and compare administrative procedures, appeals, or guarantees when it comes to Spain or Spain's relations with other countries. If you direct your question towards the Spanish dimension (for example, how Spain responds to the withdrawal of accreditations from its correspondents abroad, or what diplomatic instruments it can use), I can give you a much more precise and useful explanation.

According to information gathered from the Spanish press, official documents from the Government of Spain, and recent political analyses, the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior concentrates key competencies in internal security, border control, and, indirectly, in controlling the information space through security and intelligence bodies. However, formal media regulation is mainly linked to the Ministry of Communication and specific regulatory bodies.

Internal security and border control

In the area of border security, Spanish sources describe the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior as the department that directs and coordinates:

• The actions of the Moroccan security forces in areas near the perimeters of Ceuta and Melilla. Official Spanish notes highlight their “crucial” role in neutralizing social media calls for mass entries into the autonomous cities (Interior note).
• The Directorate of Migration and Border Surveillance, whose head, Khalid Zerouali, systematically appears as the chief of the Moroccan delegation in the Spanish-Moroccan commissions on the Operation Paso del Estrecho and migratory control (OPE 2024, OPE 2025).
• The deployment of Royal Gendarmerie, police forces, Auxiliary Forces, and military units in the surroundings of Fnideq (Castillejos), Beliones, and other border areas, with the capacity to reinforce fences, install wire fences, or intensify patrols, directly affecting migratory pressure towards Spain (recent reports on the Ceuta and Melilla crisis in the newspaper Demócrata).

De facto, the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior has the operational capacity to tighten or relax surveillance both on land borders and maritime access, which translates into an instrument for managing migratory flows and political pressure, according to several analyses collected by Demócrata on Rabat's “calibrated capacity” to control the Spanish-Moroccan border.

Security, intelligence, and counterterrorism

Available information also shows a strong link between the Interior Ministry and the intelligence and counterterrorism apparatus:

• The General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST), repeatedly cited in joint operations with the Spanish Civil Guard and National Police, appears as the main Moroccan internal intelligence service, with powers for territorial surveillance and support for arrests of alleged jihadists both in Morocco and Spain (DGST–Civil Guard joint operation).
• Within the country, the Central Office of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), dependent on the Moroccan security architecture, coordinates investigations and arrests of terrorism suspects, based on information from the DGST, according to notes collected by Demócrata.

This framework places the Ministry of the Interior at the center of national security, with the capacity to monitor movements of people, control territory, and coordinate internationally on intelligence matters.

Information control and media

Regarding information control, sources indicate that:

• Formal regulation of the press and media mainly falls under the Ministry of Communication and specific bodies (for example, journalists' demonstrations before that ministry and Morocco's low ranking in press freedom indexes, according to parliamentary questions in Spain reported by Demócrata are cited).
• However, the security apparatus linked to Interior intervenes when expression is considered a threat to “public order” or “Moroccan institutions.” Detentions such as those of journalist Ali Lmrabet or rapper Al‑Hassel are based on charges of “spreading false information” and “offenses” to institutions or security forces, showing that police and security services are key tools to discipline the information space.
• Human rights organizations cited by Demócrata denounce an instrumental use of criminal justice and security services to pressure journalists, activists, or critical artists, while some media close to power (aligned with the “Majzén”) are used to discredit them.

Thus, although the Ministry of the Interior is not the formal regulator of the media, it does participate in the practical control of information through police investigations, use of intelligence services, and application of criminal figures related to “false information” and “attacks on institutions.”

Conclusion and cautions

With the available information, it can be said that the Moroccan Ministry of the Interior:

• Has central competencies in internal and border security, including land and maritime surveillance and operational management of migratory flows.
• Directs or coordinates intelligence and counterterrorism services that also act on the digital and informational space.
• Influences indirectly but decisively the information control, through police and judicial action against content considered “false” or “offensive” towards institutions, in a general context of press freedom restrictions described by international organizations.

However, the fine details of the formal distribution of competencies within the Moroccan state (between Interior, Communication, and other bodies) are not specified in the consulted sources, so the above description is based on how that power is exercised de facto according to official Spanish documents and recent journalistic coverage.

In the research conducted in official notes from the Government of Spain (Moncloa, Interior, Foreign Affairs) and in the extensive coverage of the recent border crisis in Ceuta, no specific and detailed protocol appears that regulates, in a differentiated way, the requirements that foreign media must meet to report at the border between Morocco and Ceuta. What is observed is the application of the general rules for entry into Spanish territory and the public order and security regulations that apply to any person (including journalists) in a border area under tension.

1. Entry into Ceuta of foreign journalists

In the documents consulted about the July-August 2026 migratory crisis in Ceuta —from Interior, Foreign Affairs, and the Government Delegation, for example the Interior note on the installation of a barrier at Tarajal (Ministry of Interior note) or the appearances of Sánchez and Marlaska in the city— police, military, and border control reinforcements are detailed, but no specific visa or entry regime for foreign journalists is mentioned.

This suggests that, to access Ceuta as a foreign journalist, the same entry requirements apply as to any other traveler according to general border regulations and, if applicable, Schengen visa rules (something generally explained in informative pieces like the analysis on the Schengen area). That is:

• If the journalist is from a country exempt from short-stay visa, they enter with their passport and the usual control.
• If they come from a country subject to visa, they would need the corresponding visa, but the research has not found a differentiated “press” visa category for Ceuta.

None of the official notes reviewed about Ceuta link entry to the city or Spanish territory to prior accreditation as a foreign media outlet.

2. Access to the border area and operational restrictions

Official sources do show that, in crisis situations, the Government reinforces and reorganizes the security device at the Tarajal border and its surroundings (Civil Guard, National Police, Army), introduces physical barriers, and expands security cordons. This is seen, for example, in the Interior note about the pneumatic barrier and in the description of the deployment in Ceuta in several official texts and reports.

Although no press regulation is detailed, these documents imply that:

• The delimitation of zones where access is allowed or not (for security and operational management reasons) is set by the Security Forces and Corps and the Government Delegation.
• It is likely that perimeters are established where only agents, emergency personnel, and sometimes small organized press groups can be present, but the consulted sources do not record a formalized “pool” system or specific selection criteria.
• No bans or limitations directed exclusively at foreign press are mentioned in the reviewed notes; the described restrictions affect the entire population in the crisis area.

3. Press accreditations: what appears and what does not

The documentary base included in the research contains abundant information about journalist accreditations in the Congress of Deputies and about sanctions to specific communicators, but this is an internal regime of the Chamber, not extrapolable to Ceuta or Government Delegations.

On the other hand, no public instruction from the Government Delegation in Ceuta establishing formal accreditation requirements for foreign media at the border has been found in the consulted sources.

Nor has a Foreign Affairs protocol conditioning coverage in Ceuta on being registered as a foreign media accredited before the Ministry been found.

This does not mean that, in practice, press identifications, media lists to access press conferences or restricted zones, or ad hoc coordination with the Government Delegation are not required. Simply, such procedures do not explicitly appear in the analyzed documents.

4. Moroccan side of the border

The research has focused on Spanish sources (Moncloa, ministries, parties, and national press) and has not located specific Moroccan regulations on accreditation or permits for foreign press in the Ceuta border area. Several texts mention the role of Moroccan authorities in border control, but without detail on rules for journalists.

Any reporter intending to operate on the Moroccan side of the border should therefore confirm directly with Moroccan authorities (competent ministries, embassies, and consulates) the specific requirements for visa, media registration, and authorizations to move and film in sensitive areas.

5. Practical conclusion

Based on the reviewed sources, there is no evidence of a singular, published, and detailed legal regime imposing additional specific requirements on foreign media to cover events at the border between Morocco and Ceuta, beyond:

• The general rules of entry and stay in Spain (including Ceuta), and
• The security and public order restrictions established by Interior, Government Delegation, and the Security Forces and Corps on any person attempting to approach the border line in a crisis context.

For actual coverage, the essential step would be to coordinate with the Government Delegation in Ceuta and check in real time what professional identification they accept, which zones are open to the press, and what specific limitations apply at that moment regarding image recording and presence in the operational border area.