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Rabat – As Morocco World News (MWN) joins the world in celebrating women this month, Ambassador Karima Benyaich is one of the 11 Moroccan female leaders whose inspirational work MWN is highlighting this week to remind ourselves that Morocco is home to thousands of women leaders triumphing in different sectors.
As Morocco’s ambassador to Spain, Benyaich tops MWN’s list of female leaders owing to her success in helping Rabat navigate a very sensitive episode in its bilateral relationship with Madrid.
Born in 1961 in Tetouan, northern Morocco, Benyaich has served as the envoy of Morocco to Spain since 2018.
The diplomat’s duty has been marked by a sensitive diplomatic crisis between the two countries, throughout which Benyaich has demonstrated admirable professionalism in reflecting her country’s position.
After Spain’s unilateral decision to host Polisario leader Brahim Ghali in April 2021, Benyaich featured prominently among the long list of Moroccan diplomats who took it upon themselves to expertly counter stereotypes and misleading reports from Spanish officials and media attempting to distract public opinion from the real sources of their country’s rift with Morocco.
“Some actions have consequences,” Ambassador Benyaich memorably said amid the deepening diplomatic crisis with Spain, firmly reiterating Morocco’s position that the crisis was due to a deliberate provocation and an unprecedented breach of trust and diplomatic reciprocity from a country Morocco had long regarded as a reliable ally and a good neighbor.
As the diplomatic rift worsened, Benyaich left Spain in May upon Morocco’s decision to recall her for consultations. For the Moroccan ambassador, Spain’s decision to host Ghali in defiance of the historical and deeply strategic Madrid-Rabat ties was a “disgraceful” move that “opted for opacity by maneuvering behind Morocco’s back.”
During the crisis, the Moroccan ambassador earned celebratory nicknames representing her strength and professionalism as a reliable Moroccan envoy in a foreign country.
In a lengthy profile article on the diplomat, Spanish news outlet ABC described Benyaich as the “Princess of Diplomacy.” Other media outlets, seemingly equally awed by Ambassador Benyaich’s dedication to defending her country’s interests in the face of a smear campaign in the Spanish — and European – media, described her as an “Iron Lady” whose deft combination of hard and soft diplomacy was fittingly illustrative of an increasingly assertive Moroccan foreign policy.
Ambassador Benyacih’s background
Born to a Moroccan father and a Spanish mother, Benyaich is the daughter of the former personal doctor of late King Hassan II.
Her father was assassinated during a failed coup attempt in Skhirat in 1971.
Following his death, the late monarch took care of the Benyaich family and made sure Karima and her siblings received a proper education.
Benyaich and her siblings studied at the royal school and later she obtained a law degree from the University of Montreal in Canada
The Moroccan diplomat also earned her master’s degree in economics from the same university
It wasn’t until 1987 that she joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, taking on several high-profile assignments.
She worked as a diplomatic adviser for Morocco’s bids to host the FIFA World Cup in 2006 and 2010, and served as the Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the North-South Center of the Council of Europe.
During her ongoing diplomatic journey, Benyaich has also worked as an ambassador to Morocco in Portugal. She spent almost 10 years in Lisbon before moving to Spain, where she was appointed to replace her brother, Fadel Benyaich, who had served as Morocco’s ambassador to Madrid since early 2014.
Amid the crisis with Spain last year, Benyaich has made headlines with several media publishing glowing profiles hinting at how she successfully navigated the historical crisis between Morocco and one of its traditional European allies.
In May 2021, the magazine Jeune Afrique published Benyaich’s profile with testimonies from diplomats and close friends.
“The diplomats who have worked with her are unanimous: she is very aware of her responsibilities as an ambassador and discharges them with great seriousness, taking care to make the distinction between her work and the history that binds her to the royal family,” Jeune Afrique wrote.
The magazine went on to quote one diplomat who said that Benyaich has an “impressive capacity for work.” Another colleague said of the Moroccan ambassador, according to Jeune Afrique: “She makes it a point of honor to master her files, she knows by heart the names of all her interlocutors, and if necessary, in the event of a crisis, she is able to work 20 hours a day.”
