Spain and Morocco end bilateral crisis with first high-level meeting in eight years

Spain and Morocco are starting this Wednesday in Rabat for the first summit since 2015, which they want to consolidate a new stage in bilateral relations that have survived the crisis due to Western Sahara.

The latest crisis between Spain and Morocco erupted in April 2021 because the leader of the Saharan independence movement of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, who was ill with covid-19, was being treated in a Spanish hospital.

The Polisario Front defends the self-determination of the Saharan people and the independence of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony occupied by Morocco for almost 48 years, in the context of the decolonization process.

The dispute lasted until March 2022 and ended at the initiative of Spain, after Morocco made its Spanish neighbor feel that the control of illegal immigration at common borders or in trade depended on good diplomatic relations.

During this period of crisis, trade fell, Morocco closed the Spanish factories that were in the country and allowed in May 2021 the passage of thousands of people, most of them unaccompanied minors, through the borders of Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish cities in North Africa, surrounded by Moroccan territory and the only land border of the European Union (EU) with the African continent.

To resolve the dispute, Spain used Western Sahara as a trump card.

In March 2021, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez sent a letter to King Mohammed VI of Morocco stating that the proposal presented by Rabat in 2007 for Western Sahara to become an autonomous region controlled by Morocco is “the most serious, credible and a realistic basis for resolving this dispute.”

Up until this point, Spain had argued that Moroccan control of Western Sahara was an occupation and that a UN-sponsored referendum should be the way to decide on the territory’s decolonization.

Sanchez visited Rabat in April and the two countries issued a joint statement that normalized border traffic and bilateral relations.

In this declaration, Morocco implicitly recognized its land borders with Spain by agreeing to establish customs at Ceuta and Melilla, territories it traditionally claims as “occupied cities”.

In 2022, trade between the two countries increased by 33% compared to 2021, reaching 10 billion euros, while illegal migration flows arriving in Spain from Morocco decreased by 25%.

Cooperation in this area and the new state of bilateral relations were clearly visible on June 24 last year, when thousands of people tried to jump over the border fence in Melilla and killed at least 23 migrants.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) denounced the violent crackdown on migrants that day, accusing both countries’ police of torture, but the two governments welcomed bilateral cooperation and supported the police action.

For the summit, which starts this Wednesday in Rabat and runs until Thursday, socialist Pedro Sanchez will bring 12 ministers with him, none of whom are coalition partners in the Spanish government, Unidas Podemos, who disagree with the change of position. towards Western Sahara.

The summit, which the two countries define as a high-level meeting, will also take place at a time of tension between Morocco and the EU over Rabat’s alleged involvement in the Cathargate corruption scandal involving alleged bribery by elements of the European Parliament.

The European Parliament recently approved a resolution asking Morocco to respect freedom of expression, which MEPs from the Socialist Party of Spain, led by Sanchez, voted against.

The summit will begin Wednesday afternoon with a business forum that will bring together Sanchez and his Moroccan counterpart, Aziz Ayanouh, and culminate on Thursday with the signing of 20 cooperation agreements.