Morocco is consolidating step by step a strengthened international status while Spain loses weight in a key region for its security. The cession of the Sahara – a 180-degree turn in our foreign policy on which Pedro Sánchez refuses to give explanations – is joined by the strengthening of the alliance between Rabat and Washington through the purchase of 112 missiles and 18 Himars missile launchers from the US. The transaction makes available to Morocco the most advanced artillery system

or the world, with a range of 300 kilometers and which has been crucial to Kiev's advance against Putin's troops in Ukraine. The US State Department itself has argued the sale of arms to Rabat by the need to

improve the security of "an important ally" that he considers key to stability in the region.

The growing stature that the Alawite kingdom is acquiring carries the risk of placing Spain

in a position of diplomatic and military weakness two decades after the withdrawal of troops from Iraq

, which undermined the confidence of the U.S. Government in the role of ally that our country held.

Aware of its reinforced role in the world sphere, King Mohamed VI has relaunched its defense policy, to which it dedicates 4.2% of its GDP, a figure that places it in tenth place among countries with the highest military spending in the world, compared to 1.4% destined in Spain. A disturbing fact considering the volatility in the region, where Morocco maintains a latent state of war with the Sahara and a dangerous confrontation with Algeria.

The kingdom also preserves intact its historical sovereignty claims over Spanish territory: Ceuta and Melilla,

although in the agreement endorsed by Pedro Sánchez during his last visit to Rabat they are not mentioned, by virtue of his tacit agreement to avoid sensitive issues.

All this adds to a disturbing leadership such as that of Mohamed VI, characterized by internal repression and pulses to Spain, while the Sánchez Government maintains a questionable policy of cessions to Rabat that remains unexplained. Last Wednesday in Congress the president showed a numantine resistance to clarify

if Morocco forced the departure of Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya

, avoiding answering for two hours the questions that, on a matter of State such as the relationship with Morocco, raised both the opposition parties and their allies.

It is not acceptable for Sánchez to postpone for any longer the exercise of transparency due to the price that Spain is paying for satisfying Mohamed VI.

The president's visit to the White House on May 12

it provides a timely opportunity to convince Joe Biden that NATO's key ally in the region is a reliable country like Spain.