![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")
An earthquake hit Al Hoceima overnight and registered at 3.2 on the Richter scale.
Rabat – An earthquake struck the northern edge of the Rif mountains overnight, rocking the city of Al Hoceima. The epicenter of the quake was centered in the Sidi Boutmim area and affected a 25-kilometer area, according to news outlets.
Al Hoceima sits near a major tectonic plate boundary separating the African and Eurasian plates, which makes it a vulnerable spot for earthquakes.
In 2004, one of the deadliest earthquakes to hit Morocco occurred near Ait Kamra in the Al Hoceima province. The earthquake leveled nearly 2,600 houses and killed approximately 630 people.
Read Also: Magnitude 3.2 Earthquake Shakes Morocco’s Meknes
Last year, earthquakes struck the area twice in one month. A 4.0 earthquake struck the Al Hoceima province at the beginning of November, and a 3.8 quake hit neighboring Driouch province at the end of the month.
There have been no reported deaths or significant damage from yesterday’s earthquake.
However, a study conducted by researchers indicated that Al Hoceima might not always be so lucky. The study determined that “a significant percentage of the buildings of Al Hoceima have a high seismic vulnerability,” meaning that the city could potentially be victim to another tragedy like the 2004 earthquake unless people take action to improve buildings.
