Washington DC – The Moroccan- Spanish relations are unlikely to get better anytime soon. In fact, they will likely worsen. Madrid’s anti-Morocco lobbying efforts at the European Union and the United States amount to a declaration of diplomatic war. Now Spain has committed EU lawmakers to do part of its dirty work.
The recent European Parliament resolution condemning Morocco has nothing to do with “protecting the lives of children” but all to do with validating Spain’s occupation of the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
The non-binding resolution provides Madrid with political cover to continue its occupation, undermining relations with Morocco and endangering EU efforts to stabilize the Sahel and North Africa. It is not surprising that Spain has included a language to extend the “Schengen space” to both enclaves.
Instead of criticizing Morocco, the European Union should urge Spain to start the lengthy and difficult negotiations on decolonization. The Sanchez government’s misconceptions about Morocco’s inability to fight on two fronts, the “Western Sahara” and “Ceuta and Melilla”, would lead Europe and the region into uncertainty.
The moment has come for Spain to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over «Western Sahara» and to seek a private agreement with Rabat on the future status of Ceuta and Melilla.
The arrogance and amateurism of Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya have put Spain and Morocco on the road to Collison where a conflict could erupt anywhere in the region. In fact, the Sanchez government’s rush to secure Europe’s “endorsement” of Spain’s occupation has internationalized the conflict and not Europeanized it.
Spain’s push for a European denunciation of Morocco is turning the occupation of Ceuta and Melilla into an international “Cause célèbre” and thus appealing to extremists and inviting outside actors that neither Madrid nor Rabat can control. González Laya’s naïve idea has fired back as Arab, Islamic and African countries came to the defense of Morocco.
If Spain’s old “Molestar a Marruecos” (Annoy Morocco) has worked in the past, it is no longer the case nowadays. The geopolitical landscape has changed and Spain can no longer hide behind the Algerian military schemes in “Western Sahara” to undermine Morocco’s territorial integrity.
For years, Spain has allowed Algeria to lead its secret plan to keep Morocco bogged down in the “Western Sahara war”; thus, it had managed to placate Rabat and staved off its ire. Nevertheless, as the Algerian military regime began to collapse and the United States sided with Morocco, the neocolonialist side of Spain came to the surface.
However, recent diplomatic developments have demonstrated that the Spanish government’s attempt to block international recognition of the Moroccan Sahara as a tool to weaken Rabat is counterproductive, archaic, and neo-colonial.
The fact that the Moroccan public is closely watching the activities of PM Sanchez at the latest NATO summit is a sign that Morocco views Spain as a foe that is conspiring to weaken the Kingdom.
It does not bode well when American Secretary of State Blinken’s appeal to the Spanish Foreign Minister is a hot topic in Morocco. The confidence between the two nations has evaporated to the point where the Moroccans distrust any Spanish diplomatic activity.
González Laya’s short-sighted and antagonistic maneuvers against Morocco are putting the North African Kingdom in a position where the only option left for its diplomacy is a complete rupture of relations between the two capitals.
For many Moroccans, Spain’s foreign policy is more like the Algerian government’s obsession, supported by the army, to deny Morocco’s right to its Sahara and at all costs. All of a sudden, the reversal of the American position recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over the “Western Sahra” is a great and integral goal of Spain’s security and unity.
The sustained attacks by Spanish political parties against Moroccan interests in the EU and the “Europeanization” of the “Ceuta-Melilla” conflict have created a dangerous precedent.
Any persistent improvement in relations between the two neighbors would require that Spain recognize Morocco’s authority over Western Sahara as a first step. However, the present attitude of Madrid makes it unlikely and renders attempts to advance the relationship doomed to failure from the outset.
