In the end, things couldn't go fast enough for the Moroccan king.

Morocco stalled Spain for more than 15 months and continued to aggravate the diplomatic crisis.

Now Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has to drop everything in Madrid because Mohamed VI.

invited to the Iftar on Thursday – in the middle of the Islamic month of fasting, Ramadan, when politics usually comes to a rest.

Hans Christian Roessler

Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb based in Madrid.

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Participation in the evening breaking of the fast is a special honor.

With his Ramadan diplomacy, the Moroccan leader of the faithful wants to start the "new stage" in the relations, which had suffered badly because of the Western Sahara conflict.

They hit rock bottom in May 2021 when Moroccan border guards allowed nearly 10,000 local migrants into the Spanish North African exclave of Ceuta.

In Rabat, the king would like to personally express his "great appreciation" to the Spanish head of government for the change of course in Spain's western Sahara policy, for which Sánchez has come under heavy fire domestically.

While he is in Rabat, the Madrid parliament is voting on a motion to reverse the recent U-turn.

Sánchez can only count on the support of his socialist PSOE party.

Now Mohamed VI. is trying to strengthen his back with the forgiving pictures and at the same time to show how satisfied he is.

Because the Moroccan pressure of the past few months has not only had an effect in Madrid, but also in Berlin.

Successfully networked internationally

Spain and Germany did not go as far as Rabat had hoped: Morocco wanted the Europeans to follow the example of former American President Donald Trump and finally recognize Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

But it was a diplomatic victory that first the federal government and then Spain decided to expressly recognize the Moroccan autonomy plan as a way of resolving the conflict that had been going on since 1975.

Even as an autonomous region, the former Spanish colony would then remain part of Morocco.

In his letter to the Moroccan king two and a half weeks ago, Pedro Sánchez went even further than the federal government before and chose several superlatives for the Moroccan plan from 2007. It was the "most serious, most realistic and most credible basis for a solution to the conflict," wrote Sánchez, who is still heavily criticized for this abrupt change of course in Spain.

In Algeria there is talk of treason and threats to increase the gas price for Spain.

Algiers is the protecting power of the Polisario Liberation Front fighting for the independent Western Sahara.

In the Western Sahara conflict, the fratricidal war between the two Maghreb states had escalated dangerously in recent months.

But Morocco does not challenge that.

"The Spanish bull has voted for Morocco and given Algeria and the Polisario a hard shove," headlined a pro-government weekly.

The Moroccan government has successfully networked internationally and can rely on American support, while Algeria recently relied more on Moscow.

At the end of March, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was in Algeria and in Rabat praised the Moroccan autonomy plan in words similar to those chosen by Sánchez and the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.

It was the Biden administration's clearest position to date following Trump's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

Resumption of relations important for both countries

In return, Morocco had normalized its relations with Israel and, above all, intensified them militarily and technologically.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita attended last week's meeting in Sde Boker in the Negev desert, which was attended by Blinken at the invitation of Israel, as well as the foreign ministers of Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Like Morocco, the last two states had concluded “Abraham Accords” to normalize their relations with Israel.

The resumption of their once close ties is important for Morocco and Spain, whose economies have suffered severely from the consequences of the corona pandemic.

Not only for Spain, but also for the EU, Morocco is also an important partner in the fight against illegal migration and jihadist terrorism.

Morocco is reopening its borders that have been closed for months.

Spain is Morocco's top supplier and customer, as well as the second most important foreign investor in the North African country, home to more than 300 Spanish companies.

Almost 800,000 Moroccans live in Spain.

Now the ferries are driving across the Strait of Gibraltar again and in June the “Operación Paso del Estrecho” is scheduled to start again for the first time since 2019.

The "crossing of the straits" means a small migration of peoples to Morocco.

3.5 million Moroccans living in Western Europe then cross over in 800,000 vehicles to spend their extended summer vacation at home.