Foreign Ministers of Spain and Morocco discuss post pandemic ties

THE Foreign Ministers of Spain and Morocco held a video conference on Tuesday February 23 to discuss strengthening of economic and other ties between the two countries.

It was originally planned that Arancha González Laya would travel to Rabat to meet with Nasser Bourita on December 17 last but this meeting was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The two ministers called for far closer cooperation as strategic partners in a post pandemic world due to their close vicinity, opportunity for investment and the number of Moroccan citizens now settled in Spain.

Although they agreed that ‘excellent relations’ existed between the two countries, there are still political problems especially with regards to both Western Sahara and the Spanish enclaves within Morocco.

Currently the Spanish Government tends to keep silent about the activities of Morocco in Western Sahara which is disputed territory and was occupied by Spain until 1975 when it withdrew and Morocco took over 80 per cent of the land area.

The Spanish occupation of Ceuta and Melilla are more contentious with Morocco attempting to limit the financial advantages of Ceuta in particular with Vox accusing Morocco of undertaking a “siege and strangulation of Ceuta” as it tries to stop the cheap export of goods.

Despite this and the fact that many compare the inconsistency of Spain’s position against Gibraltar whilst maintaining outposts in Morocco, the current Spanish Government doesn’t appear to want to intervene strongly.

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