Customs and border

You do not cross the border between Spain and Morocco in one place but in three steps: the Spanish exit control in Almería, the Moroccan passport control on board during the crossing, and customs on arrival in Beni Ensar, the port of Nador. Knowing that, you stand in the right queue at the right moment and do not lose an hour on arrival.

After check-in and the luggage scan comes the Spanish exit control: the Guardia Civil stamps your passport. With a car you stay in your lane and keep everyone’s passports and boarding passes at hand. The exact route differs per ship; follow your operator’s signs. When you have to be there is under check-in and boarding.

On the sailings to Nador the Moroccan immigration desk is usually on board. Shortly after departure the desk opens; join the queue straight away with all passports and the completed entry cards. Those who are in time are stamped before arrival and drive on to customs in Nador. Latecomers wait in the port. Keep the entry stamp safe, you need it when you leave; GOV.UK notes that travellers without an entry stamp have had trouble leaving Morocco.

Baleària provides the police form as a pdf: fill it in at home and hand it in on board to the Moroccan police. With the other operators you get the form at check-in or on board. How check-in itself works, and when you have to be there, is under check-in.

After driving off the ship you follow the signs to customs. The driver stays with the car. You show passport, registration document, insurance and, if applicable, the letter of authorisation; customs links the car to your passport and may check the chassis number and the load. You get a document for temporary import, which you hand in when you leave Morocco. Outside the high season this usually goes quickly; during Operation Marhaba and around public holidays the waiting times rise sharply.

Foot passengers go through the green or red channel, as at an airport. If you have no green card with MA, you take out border insurance in the port, paid per month. Then you are in Morocco and fifteen minutes later you drive into Nador.

Your own car in your own name. Registration document, passport, driving licence and insurance that covers Morocco. That is all; the D16 ter you fill in beforehand or in the port. UK drivers add the 1968 International Driving Permit, per GOV.UK.

Car of your partner, parents or family. Take the registration document plus a letter of authorisation from the owner with your name, the registration number and the travel period, preferably in French so that Moroccan customs can read it, and ideally with the signature certified by a notary or solicitor.

Lease or company car. Ask the leasing company or employer for written permission for Morocco and a letter of authorisation in your name, with the company stamp and the signature of someone entitled to sign. Allow a few weeks.

Hire car. Most rental companies in the UK, Ireland and Spain forbid Morocco in their conditions. Without written permission from the rental company you will not get through customs, and you are not insured in case of damage.

Leaving Nador it goes in reverse order: Moroccan customs and exit in the port, with the car’s import document and your passport with the entry stamp, then on board or in Almería the Spanish entry control. Count on long queues in Beni Ensar in summer and come well in time; check the timetable and your operator’s closing times beforehand. Moroccan citizens need a Schengen visa for Spain unless they hold a valid residence permit of a Schengen country; the operator checks this at check-in.

Arriving in the EU in Almería the EU travellers’ allowances apply: per adult goods worth up to 430 euros by sea or air, plus limited amounts of tobacco and alcohol. Entering Great Britain later from outside the EU you may bring goods worth up to 390 pounds, plus alcohol or tobacco within the limits, according to GOV.UK; going over the allowance means paying duty on the whole value. Into Morocco the allowances are modest: a small amount of tobacco and alcohol per adult, and gifts up to a low value; declare larger amounts, drones and goods for resale.