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Join on Telegram Washington DC – When it comes to making a deal with Morocco, Spain has a complex. Madrid has been reluctant to give up its anti-Morocco policy, whatever the consequences, and this stubborn attitude may lead to a clash with Morocco.
One of the reasons could be that whenever there are positive developments that support Morocco’s positions in the Western Sahara conflict, the Spanish government instinctively and repeatedly opposes it.
In just the last few weeks, Spanish organizations have sponsored anti-Morocco events with Algerian diplomats in a number of Spanish cities. In fact, Madrid has allowed the Algerian ambassador in Madrid to intensify his incitement against Morocco. At the same time, the local government of the Canary Islands gave €640,000 to a non-governmental organization working with the Polisario separatist guerrilla. These actions represent nothing less than a declaration of war.
The provocation of the governor of the Canary Islands shows arrogance and ignorance. It should be pointed out to Governor Angel Víctor Torres that Morocco can bring down the economy of the Islands as it did for the occupied city of Ceuta.
Prime Minister Sanchez wants to improve relations without dealing with the range of issues and differences that divide both countries. Madrid wishes to continue to host, support and finance the separatists of Polisario without paying an economic and diplomatic price for his actions.
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, who asserts that relations with Rabat are “good”, must understand that no one in Spain should expect diplomatic dividends from his kind words about Morocco. If the Iberian Kingdom wants to see a political rebound with Rabat, it must adopt specific positions supporting the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara.
Rabat remains displeased with Spain’s calls for the self-determination of Western Sahara when Moroccans know that the former colonial power has documents and evidence confirming that the Sahara has always been under the rule of the Alawite Kingdom. The arguments put forward by the Spanish not to open their archives are downright misleading and insidious.
The Moroccan Government needs to accelerate its domestic preparations for a possible confrontation with Spain. These measures should be part of a broad diplomatic campaign on the international scene to denounce Madrid’s duplicity with regard to self-determination and decolonization. Strengthening Morocco’s military capacity and defense alliances will strengthen Rabat’s diplomatic positions.
An intensification of Moroccan counter-offensives to respond to these provocations has been a long time coming. A complaint to the UN Fourth Committee calling for the decolonization of the cities of Ceuta and Melilla is a good starting point.
Moroccans are no longer as worried as they once were about confronting Madrid. Morocco’s distrust of Spanish motives reached an all-time high.
A confrontation with Spain would be messy and intractable. But for the Moroccans, a war to preserve Western Sahara, that is at the heart of the disagreement, is existential.
Spain cannot promote a resolution of its current crisis with Rabat without recognizing the Moroccan decolonization of the ex-Spanish Sahara. At this time, it has not taken honest steps to address Morocco’s concerns.
Morocco will not concede or compromise its sovereignty over Western Sahara in the same way that Spain will never agree to the complete secession of Catalonia. Unless Madrid accepts this reality, its relations with Morocco will continue to deteriorate until a conflict breaks out.
Moroccan nationalists have called for open support to Catalan republicans. Rabat’s support for the Catalan cause remains soft, timid, and disappointing. At this stage of the conflict, Moroccan diplomats have no choice but to assist and indulge all regional separatist movements fighting Spanish dominance the same way Madrid promotes the Polisario guerrilla.
The recognition by the United States of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara and the new Israeli-Moroccan alliance have shifted relations between Morocco and Spain to an entirely new level of confrontation. These tensions will continue to intensify as Spain‘s government and civil society press to provoke Morocco.
The Sanchez government has several options to reduce tensions, but it chooses not to do so. At the same time, both countries must take the threat of confrontation seriously as bilateral relations deteriorate.
