Women Without Borders: Cross-Border Domestic Service in Sebta

Sebta and Melilia, two cities under Spanish sovereignty on Moroccan territory, have since their creation been border areas that generate specific social, economic and symbolic relationships with Morocco and within them. Without forgetting their importance as gateways to the Schengen area and its impact on the "reception" of the immigrant population, there are lesser known and yet very important processes for cities and their surroundings. An example of these situations is the daily crossing of the border by the bragdiat or porteadoras, which is a phenomenon that has recently received the attention of researchers and politicians in Morocco and Spain. On the other hand, the issue of cross-border housekeepers is much more invisible. Those women cross borders every day to join their jobs at homes in cities. This article, the preliminary result of an ongoing research, addresses the issue of cross-border domestic service between the city of Sebta and the Moroccan cities near the border, from the point of view of the relationship between neoliberal policies and strategies and resistance from border populations.