Congress Pedro Sánchez denies a "turn" regarding the Sahara: "My objective is to defend the interests of Spain"... and Podemos denies him
Diplomacy Morocco blew up Sánchez's strategy by revealing the letter on the Sahara "at the worst time"
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has reported that he has held a conversation with King Mohamed VI of Morocco on the eve of the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, to Rabat.
"We launched a roadmap that consolidates the new stage between two neighboring countries, strategic partners, based on transparency, mutual respect and compliance with agreements," he detailed through a message on Twitter.
Albares is making an official visit to Morocco this Friday with which the two governments seek to seal their reconciliation after almost a year of disagreement and start a new stage in the bilateral relationship.
The visit is facilitated by the explicit support that the Spanish Government has given to the autonomy plan for Western Sahara that Morocco presented in 2007 and that the Government now considers "the most serious, realistic and credible basis" for a solution.
These words, collected in a letter that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, sent to King Mohamed VI on March 14 were the culmination of months of efforts to reverse a crisis never seen before and whose backdrop was precisely the question of the old Spanish colony.
The recognition by the United States, with Donald Trump still president and via Twitter, of the Moroccan nature of Western Sahara on December 10, 2020 gave Rabat wings, which, reaffirmed in its position, launched itself to try to push other countries to follow in the footsteps of the Americans.
That same day, and with the argument of the pandemic, the bilateral summit that Spain and Morocco were going to hold a week later in Rabat was cancelled, with the commitment that it would take place in the following months, something that, however, has not happened till the date.
On April 22, the news breaks that the Spanish Government has authorized for humanitarian reasons the reception in Spain of the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, suffering from COVID-19 and that he would remain hospitalized in Logroño until June 1.
The gesture was the perfect excuse for Morocco, which, with several harsh communications, in which it made the government ugly for not having informed it beforehand as it should between partner countries and friends, opened a schism that is now being sought to settle.
The verbal escalation culminated in the massive entry of more than 10,000 immigrants between May 17 and 18 in Ceuta, in the face of the passivity of the Moroccan security forces that they allowed to do, and the call for consultations of the ambassador in Madrid, Karima Benyaich , who is also a personal friend of Mohamed VI.
Two weeks later, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry recognized that in reality the reception of Ghali was not "the root of the problem" and that at the bottom of the crisis lay "a question of ulterior hostile intentions of Spain with respect to the Sahara, a sacred cause of the entire Moroccan people".
In this sense, "an unambiguous clarification" was requested from the Spanish Government on this matter.
The departure of Arancha González Laya, whom Rabat holds responsible for the entire Ghali case, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the arrival of Albares on July 12 marked a turning point.
From the first moment, the new minister made clear his desire to correct the situation, although his efforts, always protected by his claimed discretion, have been slow to bear fruit.
In the months that followed, mixed signals came from Rabat.
On the one hand, Mohamed VI delivered a speech on August 20 in which he said that he aspired to work with the Spanish Government "with all sincerity and confidence" in order to "inaugurate a new unprecedented stage in relations between the two countries, especially based on trust, transparency, mutual respect and the honor of commitments".
The Spanish Government picked up the glove and the President of the Government himself, Pedro Sánchez, "welcomed those words because based on trust, respect and present and future collaboration we can build a relationship on much more solid foundations than those we have had until now".
However, despite the will expressed by the Alaouite monarch, his words did not translate into deeds.
Thus, in the following months, the installation of a Moroccan fish farm in the vicinity of the Chafarinas Islands and the signing of a contract by Morocco with an Israeli company to explore the search for oil and gas on the Saharawi coast near Dakhla became known. , off the Canary Islands.
Furthermore, in November, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Green March, Mohamed VI returned to the fray with the issue of the Sahara.
The monarch warned "those who maintain vague or ambivalent positions" that Morocco "will not engage with them in any economic or commercial approach that excludes the Moroccan Sahara."
"The Moroccan nature of the Sahara is an immutable and indisputable reality," stressed its Foreign Minister, Naser Burita, days later, insisting that the only possible solution was through the autonomy plan that Rabat proposes for its so-called southern provinces.
The Moroccan government once again insisted on asking for "clarity" from Spain regarding the Sahara after King Felipe VI intervened in January for the first time since the outbreak of the crisis, encouraging "materialize now" the new relationship for the 21st century that both countries sought to forge.
These clarifications came in the form of a letter and after months of negotiation in which, according to government sources told Europa Press, the agreement was very close several times, although the fact that it was the Moroccan Royal House that made the letter public caught a bit against the government.
The Moroccan Executive hastened to celebrate Spain's constructive position regarding the Sahara and to stress that a new stage is now opening in the relationship within the framework of "a clear and ambitious road map", which, however, has not given more clues.
Meanwhile, the Government has had to face criticism from all sides, both domestically and abroad.
The turn with respect to the traditional neutrality with respect to the Sahara has been harshly criticized by the entire parliamentary arc, starting with Podemos, a coalition partner, passing through the investiture partners and also from the PP.
As expected, the Polisario Front did not take long to denounce that Spain had given in to "blackmail" by Morocco while Algeria, its main supporter, chose to call its ambassador in Madrid for consultations, visibly annoyed by the step taken by the Government , which contrary to what Moncloa maintained, would not have warned him in advance.
The Government argues that it is a good agreement and that it guarantees the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Spain.
This was precisely the message that Sánchez conveyed during his visit to Ceuta and Melilla on March 23 and the one that Albares also defended in his appearance before the Congress of Deputies.
Likewise, the Executive denies that there has been a "turn" in its position on the Sahara, referring again and again to the need for a mutually acceptable solution for the parties within the framework of the UN, as it had maintained until now, and assuring that Already with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in Moncloa and then with Mariano Rajoy, the Government expressed its support for the autonomy plan.
Albares' trip will serve, in addition to launching the roadmap, to prepare Sánchez's next visit to Morocco, advanced by Rabat on March 18, without it being clear at the moment if this will be framed in the summit bilateral still pending or will precede it.
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Pedro Sanchez
Mohammed VI
Occidental Sahara
Jose Manuel Albares
DiplomacySpain recovers the Moroccan ambassador and loses the Algerian one after Pedro Sánchez's turn on the Sahara
European Union Albares now avoids clarifying whether he informed Algeria of the Government's change of position in the Sahara: "Communications between Spain and Morocco are bilateral"
Politics The argumentative of the PSOE establishes Pedro Sánchez as protector of Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands
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