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Washington – Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya has lost ground. Her reckless decision to welcome Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario secessionist militia, may put an end to his diplomatic career. Although she insists that this decision does not affect relations with Rabat, Moroccan diplomats are preparing to reduce diplomatic relations with Madrid and review relations.
The Spanish political establishment, from the right-wing VOX party to the Podemos on the Left, has to realize that Rabat’s new abrasive and hard-nosed diplomacy has been greenlighted by the Palace. Thus, this new posture will continue until Spain complies with and appreciates Morocco’s positions in the region.
However, the first step toward cooling down the deepening diplomatic tiff between Rabat and Madrid is the removal of González Laya as a Foreign Minister of Spain. The Sanchez government’s challenge is that it can no longer count on relations with Morocco just by expanding the traditional way of thinking. A new format of Moroccan-Spanish relations is emerging, and Madrid must either adapt or lose.
Recent developments have made it difficult for Rabat to work with Arancha González Laya. The Moroccans will never forgive her for secretly pressuring the Biden White House to reverse the previous US administration’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.
Furthermore, Morocco is, and will remain, angry at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s agreement to allow Algerian military intelligence officials to smuggle Ghali, a convicted criminal, into Spain without consulting Rabat.
While Moroccans expect this type of outlaw behavior from a banana republic like Algeria, they are mystified to see Spain, a so-called democracy, be part of such illegal and immoral acts. Unfortunately, González Laya must be trapped in a diplomatic bubble where Rabat is satisfied to see a military leader of Polisario, who actively combat the Moroccan troops, welcomed in Spain.
In recent weeks, the Moroccans have been trying to determine whether Ms. González Laya is ignorant or simply misinformed. In any case, it is worth reminding Spain’s top diplomat and Spain’s intelligence officers that while Mr. Ghali is their host, his militia has been issuing war statements alleging the killing of Moroccans in Western Sahara.
Unless she has been living under a rock, Ms. González Laya is probably aware that tensions have been running high between Morocco and Algeria and that the Polisario is in an open war with Morocco. Is it possible that she underestimated Morocco’s response to her decision to allow the Algerian military to send Ghali to Spain with a fake passport?
Indeed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain seems to lack a clear justification and a long-term vision. It is naive to think that Morocco would have accepted Spain’s «humanitarian argument» to justify the acceptance of a fugitive like Ghali. Moreover, the Spanish description of Morocco’s indignation as a passing event is simplistic and dangerously erroneous.
Policy coordination on intelligence and security between the two former “allies” is dead. Rabat is currently reviewing its tough measures against migrants attempting to reach the Canaries, Ceuta, Melilla, and Spain. In fact, these issues must be placed within the global context of cooperation between the two countries.
González Laya has chosen to live in an alternative world where Moroccans believe that Spain views them as “reliable friends and strategic partners”. She must now wake up and confront a new and hostile geopolitical reality in North Africa where Spain has two stark choices: Morocco or the Algeria-Polisario axis.
Spanish diplomats must know that Morocco’s positions on the Western Sahara are “non-negotiable” and that aiding the Polisario Front is a near declaration of war, and yet they opted to conspire with the military junta in Algiers to boost the secessionist militia.
The Sanchez government’s negligent foreign policy decisions will have an impact on Spain’s national security and economic interests. Spain is the major loser in this transaction and England and France will no doubt be the winners.
The Sanchez government’s foreign policy toward Morocco is fundamentally wrong since it continues to avoid and dismisses Rabat’s basic claims and demands in key disputes such as the Western Sahara, the status of the occupied cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and the demarcation of territorial waters off the coast of the Moroccan Sahara.
Prime Minister Sanchez must address the archaic diplomacy of his foreign minister and her lack of awareness of Morocco’s new priorities and capabilities in the Western Sahara conflict. As far as Rabat is concerned, Spain’s present positions are unacceptable.
Given her record, Ms. Arancha González Laya will likely continue to plot and conspire with the Algerian military against the Kingdom’s interests. This lack of respect and arrogance must be strongly reacted to and counteracted by Morocco.
