"Since the ban, Russia and Europe import more from Morocco"

"My older brother Fernando Partida López and I are part of the fourth generation of the family," says Álvaro Partida. "In 1923, our great-grandfather Fernando Partida Palma became a transit commissioner in the port of Algeciras, managing the shipment of goods to Ceuta and Tangier, and at that time, they used carts pulled by mules as a means of transport.".

"At the time of the war in Africa, it offered its services to the Spanish government in order to become a supplier of food and merchandise for our troops in the territories of the former colony. The name PARTIDA was like music in the ears of Many Spanish soldiers, as it was like the 'umbilical cord' that kept them connected to the homeland."

95 years is a long time, and since its inception, the company has become an organization specialised in customs processing and logistic support of merchandise in an import, export or transit regime, shipped via container and truck. "With Algeciras as the undisputed leader of the Spanish port system, hosting some of the largest shipping companies in the world and taking advantage of the geographical proximity to North Africa, we saw a magnificent opportunity for growth, so we adapted our structure and means," says Álvaro.

In 2015, the company ALGECIRAS LOGISTICA, run by the Ramos family, decided to join forces with PARTIDA to be able to achieve very similar objectives in the medium/long term and to share very ambitious projects in Algeciras. "Together, we have managed to have our OAS certification revalidated and we are currently a leading company in southern Spain," he says.

Partida is specialised in services that connect Morocco with Spain. According to Álvaro Partida, "the exchange of goods in both directions has become our routine." Daily, without exception, we dispatch goods of all kinds: horticultural, textile, automotive parts, dangerous goods, live animals, frozen seafood, etc. We have been working with Morocco from day one, and that gives us an advantage over our competitors. We have knowledge about business and labour in our neighbouring country, which is decisive when it comes to reaching agreements that are beneficial to all parties. We have been visiting these Moroccan companies for many years, learning first-hand about their developments and forecasts for the next campaigns, and properly organising the logistics for the arrival of the trucks to the port of Algeciras. Contacting European exporters and importers is also a strategic factor to attract potential customers and make Morocco and its future better known."

According to Álvaro Partida, the Russian veto imposed on Europe has had a direct impact on the fruit and vegetable exchanges between Morocco and Spain/Europe in recent years. "Indeed, the veto on Europe has led to a significant increase in exports from Morocco to Russia. Has this been good for us? Yes, since the volume of goods in transit through Algeciras has grown." Russian, Spanish, French, Dutch, English and German customers are all being supplied with an increasingly wider range of Moroccan agricultural products."

The transit of containers between South America and Africa via Algeciras has also grown notably with the boom of tropical and subtropical products.

"Traffic is constantly growing due to the great popularity of these products, and fundamentally, to the establishment of direct maritime routes connecting Algeciras with the main South American ports weekly. Transit times are truly unbeatable, since Costa Rica is 13 days away and Brazil just 7 days. Also, Algeciras has the necessary infrastructure to handle this constant flow and to host the famous "Mega-Ships", capable of transporting up to 23,000 TEUs. The idea that certain products can only be consumed for a few specific months of the year, as has traditionally been the case for melons or avocados, is no longer true. Our customers have to supply wholesalers/supermarkets all year round and they go wherever it's needed to buy them. South America has a leading fruit and vegetable supply, but many African countries, such as Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire, are also making a name for themselves."

It seems that there is increasingly more access to real-time information about the operations, the condition of the goods, etc. Technology is advancing very rapidly in this sector.