Spain and Morocco end diplomatic tensions over Western Sahara

Spain took a radical turn on Friday by abandoning its stance of neutrality and supporting Morocco in relation to the disputed territory of Western Sahara, ending a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

“Spain considers that the autonomy initiative presented in 2007 [by Morocco] is the most serious, realistic and credible basis for the resolution of this dispute” between Rabat and the Sahrawi independence activists of the Frente Polisario, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, told the press in Barcelona.

The minister thus confirmed a statement from the Moroccan Royal House that released a letter sent by the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, to the Alawi kingdom.

Without citing the letter or mentioning the Sahara, the Spanish government had shortly before announced a “new stage” in relations with the North African country.

This position represents a radical change, since until now Spain advocated an attitude of neutrality between Rabat and the Polisario.

The conflict in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony considered a “Non-Self-Governing Territory” by the UN, has for decades opposed Morocco with the Frente Polisario, supported by Algeria.

Rabat, which controls about 80% of this territory, proposes a plan of autonomy under its sovereignty. The independentists are calling for a self-determination referendum organized by the UN, scheduled for the 1991 ceasefire, which never took place.

- Spain “has ceded” -

As part of the normalization of relations between the two countries, Spain announced a visit by Pedro Sánchez to Morocco, on a date that was not specified.

The head of Spanish diplomacy, José Manuel Albares, will visit Rabat “before the end of the month”, says the Spanish government's statement.

For Ignacio Cembrero, a Spanish journalist specializing in relations between the two countries, “the Spanish government has yielded to Morocco's main demand”, which asked it to support “its proposal for autonomy” from Western Sahara.

“It is an important change” because “as Morocco demands, it is made public,” he explained. “The Spanish authorities had always helped Morocco in recent years, but they had never wanted to make it public,” he said.

In a statement, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed “Spain's positive positions and constructive commitments on Moroccan Sahara.”

The Polisario delegation in Spain accused Madrid of having “yielded to blackmail and the politics of fear used by Morocco”.

- Migration crisis in Ceuta -

The diplomatic crisis between Morocco and Spain began in April 2021, when Madrid allowed the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, a sworn enemy of Rabat, to arrive on the peninsula to be hospitalized for covid-19.

In May, thousands of migrants forced entry into Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in northern Morocco.

Before this Friday's announcements, tensions had subsided, without disappearing. The Moroccan ambassador to Madrid, who was called for consultations in May, has not yet returned to Spain.

According to Bernabé López, professor of Arab and Islamic studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid, the main objective of the Spanish government's gesture towards the Sahara is to obtain a management of migration flows from Morocco.

“It involves tightening the nuts a little so that there is a little more control and not that intentional lack of control that Morocco has,” he says.

Western Sahara is a key issue for Morocco in any negotiation.

In exchange for the resumption of diplomatic relations with Israel, Morocco gained recognition of the “leatherworthiness” of the former Spanish colony by the United States, then led by Donald Trump.

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