Rabat – At the end of today’s high-level meeting between Spain and Morocco, the Spanish government reiterated its support for the Moroccan autonomy plan as the most serious basis to resolve the dispute in Western Sahara.
“Concerning the question of the Sahara, Spain reiterates its position expressed in the joint declaration adopted on 7 April 2022, after the meeting between His Majesty King Mohammed VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez,” said the joint declaration released after the meeting.
In 2022, Spain lauded Morocco’s “serious and credible efforts” in the UN-led political process to find a solution to the dispute.
“Spain considers the Moroccan autonomy initiative, presented in 2007, as the most serious, realistic and credible basis for resolving the dispute over the Sahara,” noted a joint declaration following a meeting between King Mohammed VI and Sanchez in April of last year.
Sanchez also said Spain recognized the importance of the Sahara issue to Morocco.
That announcement came on the heels of an unprecedented year-long political crisis between the two countries that started after Spain hosted Polisario leader Brahim Ghali for hospitalization, a move met by protests from Morocco.
Since the end of the crisis, however, Spain has maintained support for Morocco’s autonomy plan, which would give residents of the Western Sahara region in southern Morocco control over their governance while remaining under Moroccan sovereignty.
The two countries have also worked on strengthening their partnership, culminating in the high-level meeting that took place on Thursday, which saw the signing of dozens of bilateral cooperation agreements.
Madrid and Rabat have been reinforcing cooperation in a broad range of sectors, particularly trade and migration management.
Morocco has made notable strides in acquiring support from other countries in the Sahara dispute, with several countries in Africa and Europe endorsing the autonomy initiative.
