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Rabat – Spain has reiterated its determination to continue boosting its cooperation with Morocco at all levels, including trade.
Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Albares has renewed his country’s determination on Morocco-Spain cooperation during a recent interview with Spanish National Radio. Albares disclosed statistics about economy-related cooperation between Morocco and Spain – without providing a time frame for the development of the current trade data between Rabat and Madrid.
“Bilateral trade with Morocco has grown by 31% close to 10,000 million euros (MAD 110.582 Million),” Albares said.
The figure makes Morocco the main trading partner for Spain outside the EU, the United Kingdom, and the United States, he explained.
Albares also stressed the Rabat-Madrid joint cooperation to tackle irregular migration, stressing that arrivals from Morocco to Spain have decreased.
Referencing the previous year-long diplomatic crisis between the two countries, Albares said: “We came from a deep crisis, now we are entering a more solid stage.”
Morocco and Spain experienced one of the most unprecedented diplomatic crises in 2021 after the Spanish government allowed Polisario leader Brahim Ghali to enter its territory for hospitalization.
Morocco described Spain’s decision as a betrayal of the mutual trust and transparency required between longtime allies and good neighbors.
Following over a year of dialogue, Spain and Morocco announced a new roadmap to improve diplomatic ties.
As part of the two countries’ partnership, Spain formally endorsed Morocco’s Autonomy Plan and described it as the most serious and credible path towards a lasting solution to the Western Sahara dispute.
Spain’s decision received a wave of criticism from pro-Polisario supporters within the Spanish government and the EU.
Algeria, which hosts, finances, arms, and backs the Polisario Front – a separatist militia – also responded to Spain’s decision by freezing a 20-year friendship treaty with Madrid.
Spain’s Socialist Party (PSOE) also received criticism for voting against a resolution from the European Parliament on the situation of journalists in Morocco.
The majority of the party voted against the resolution. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is a member of the PSOE political party.
The vote took place on January 19, when 356 voted for the resolution, while 32 voted against it and 42 MEPs abstained.
The hostile resolution accused Morocco of “harassing and intimidating journalists, human rights defenders, and diaspora activities.”
Several Moroccan institutions responded to the resolution, condemning the European Parliament’s interference in Morocco’s domestic affairs and judiciary.
Read Also: European Parliament’s Hostile Campaign Against Morocco – Explained
