![Spanish Representatives Oppose Morocco’s Joint Bid with Spain and Portugal Spain’ Prime Minister proposed a trio bid with Morocco and Portugal to host the 2030 World Cup; but the idea does not appear to be popular with Spanish politicians. The representatives of two Spanish political parties, the People’s Party and the Citizens-Party, have said they do not want Spain to submit a joint candidacy with Portugal and Morocco for the 2030 World Cup. In a meeting organized by the National Federation of Sports Facilities Entrepreneurs (FNEID) in Madrid, the People’s party representative, Vicente Azpitarte dismissively spoke about Spain joining a trio with Morocco and Portugal to organize the World Cup. Azpitarte specifically wondered whether Spain would get any advantages from teaming up with the two countries, t Spanish news outlet Iusport reported on Wednesday. The Citizens-Party representative, Roberto Nunez, agreed with Azpitarte. “We do not intend to organize a World Cup with other countries. Spain has more than enough capacity [to organize the World Cup], it is a country that has already organized a World Cup, and we do not understand that proposal,” Nunez said. The adviser of United Podemos, Oscar Penas, stated that he does not clearly see why “the priority is to organize a World Cup or an Olympiad at this time.” Morocco and Spain cooperate on a number of issues, ranging from security and migration to trade and education. On November 18, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, arrived in Morocco for a first visit since his election to premiership. During his visit, Sanchez proposed to both Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani and King Mohammed VI a joint bid for the 2030 World Cup. “We are launching a joint message, which is that this will be a bid between two continents. The King of Morocco is receptive and we’re going to work on it with Portugal. We are very excited about it,” Sanchez said.](https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ABL-Launches-in-Casablanca-Becoming-Africa’s-First-Aircraft-Leaser-180x135.jpeg "ABL Launches in Casablanca, Becoming Africa’s First Aircraft Leaser")
While Morocco has extended a hand to Algeria for “direct dialogue,” several politicians are again accusing Morocco of drug trafficking.
Rabat – The president of the Rally of Algerian Hope (TAJ) party, Amar Ghoul, claimed that Morocco is sending “hashish and drugs” to Algeria.
When journalists asked Ghoul, the former Algerian minister of tourism, about Moroccan-Algerian political ties in a press conference on Saturday in Algeria, the politician said, “Morocco is the big winner of the trade balance with Algeria.”
He added that trade with Morocco is lopsided: “These people take our oil, our sugar, and all consumer products subsidized to billions of dollars. They send us hashish and drugs instead.”
Ghoul’s statement came only a few days after the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an indirect reaction to King Mohammed VI’s dialogue offer.
While the Moroccan government showed interest in normalizing ties with Algeria, Morocco’s eastern neighbor called for a meeting of the Arab Maghreb Union foreign ministers to discuss issues hindering Maghreb unity.
Read Also:Algerian Official Accuses Morocco of ‘Flooding’ Algeria with Drugs
On November 6, the monarch called on Algeria to be involved in a direct and frank dialogue with Morocco to break the “stalemate” that hinders Maghreb unity.
In line with the King’s offer, Moroccan political parties, including the Justice and Development Party (PJD), announced their intention to meet with Algerian parties.
Some Algerian parties, including Ennahda, disapproved of the initiative, saying that the issue between Rabat and Algiers should be solved between the two governments and not between parties.
Ghoul also accused Morocco of “throwing” irregular migrants into Algeria.
He added that Morocco blames Algeria for expelling migrants. “Their representative at the UN then declares that it is the fault of Algeria.”
In October, the United Nations urged Algeria to “stop arbitrary expulsion” of migrants. The News24 outlet reported in July that Bouteflika’s government had resumed expelling migrants into the Sahara desert.
Algeria has also previously accused Morocco of “flooding” Algeria of drugs.
Most recently, in August, the former secretary general of Algeria’s National Liberation Front (FLN), Djamel Ould Abbes, claimed that Morocco brings “enormous quantities of drugs into the Algerian territory.”
The claims were similar to several statements made by Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdelkader Messahel in October 2017. Messahel accused Moroccan banks and airlines of transporting and selling cannabis.
He also accused Morocco of “laundering drug money in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Algeria, however, denies that mafias in its country have been marketing hazardous psychotropic pills in Morocco, including ecstasy.
In 2017, Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) announced that seizures of psychotropic pills from Algeria “witnessed a very alarming rise over the past years.”
DGSN said that it confiscated 808,022 psychotropic pills in 2016, compared to 260,152 in 2015 and 293,282 in 2014.
