Rabat – Following the recent mass migration to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and the controversy it sparked, many Moroccan internet users have launched hashtags on Twitter denouncing Spain’s occupation of the two enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
With hashtags like #Ceuta_and_Melilla_Moroccans or #Free_Ceuta_Melilla, Moroccans are drawing the attention of the international community to Spain’s continued colonization in northeastern Morocco.
Through the online form of protest, Moroccans seek to pressure the Moroccan government to initiate negotiations with Spain over the status of the two historically and geographically Moroccan cities.
More than 12,100 users have shared the Hashtag on Twitter calling for deploying the same efforts as those in the Western Sahara file to regain sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla.
The launch of the hashtag campaign follows a series of tweets in which the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont criticized Spain’s presence in Ceuta and Melilla. Puigdemont affirmed that the two enclaves are not Spanish and stressed the need for a dialogue on their status.
“Morocco has the right to raise the question of sovereignty,” he tweeted, adding that it “would be necessary to create a dialogue table to resolve the conflict.”
Puigdemont expressed his critical views yesterday amid the ongoing diplomatic rift between Morocco and Spain.
The two countries bilateral relations hit a wall after Spain coordinated with Algeria to arrange for the hospitalization of Polisario’s leader, Brahim Ghali. Spain and Algeria arranged the travel of Ghali under fake identity using a diplomatic passport of a man named Mohamed Ben Battouche.
Spain’s unexpected action led Morocco to summon its ambassador in Madrid, Karima Benyaich, for consultations.
Benyaich said that Spain’s attitude cannot be accepted and emphasized that bilateral relations should be based on “mutual trust.”
