Spanish FM Warns of Opposition Party’s Embrace of ‘Anti-Moroccan Positions’

Rabat – In an interview last week with the Spanish outlet La Vanguardia, Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, expressed concerns over the conservative People’s Party worrying adoption of confrontational positions towards Morocco as Spain prepares for snap elections on July 23.

Albares warned that the PP’s shift towards anti-Moroccan sentiments is reminiscent of the party’s past under former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, whose tenure was marked by a surge in Spain-Morocco tensions over the island of Leila (Perejil).

Highlighting the importance of maintaining positive relations with Morocco, Albares emphasized the mutual benefits that such relations bring to various regions in Spain. During Mariano Rajoy’s premiership from 2011 to 2018, Spain’s relations with Morocco were largely cordial.

While relations between the two neighbors went through bouts of tensions on a wide range of issues under the premiership of Pedro Sanchez, Madrid and Rabat have appeared to have entered a period of diplomatic honeymoon since the Sanchez-led government expressed support for Morocco’s Autonomy Plan in March of last year.

Albares expressed his satisfaction with the current state of relations between Morocco and Spain, describing the relationship between the two neighbors as “mutually beneficial and fundamental for Ceuta and Melilla, for the Canary islands, and also for Andalusia.”

Like Albares, most ministers of Spain’s ruling Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, have over the past months repeatedly spoken of the need for Spain to maintain cordial relations with Morocco.

Earlier this month, Sanchez spoke of the need for Spain to maintain friendly relations with Morocco, which he described as an essential and strategic ally.

“Relations with Morocco are very important and fundamental especially in the areas of trade and economy since practically all of Spain’s investments on the African continent are concentrated in Morocco,” he said.

As Spain gears up for snap elections late this month, Albares said in the La Vanguardia interview that he is concerned that the PP’s “return to confrontational positions with Morocco” might resonate with some voters and other actors of the politico-media landscape.

While Rabat and Madrid have over the past year taken several steps to cement their newfound rapprochement, many expect the outcome of the coming elections to shape the future of the relationship between the two neighbors.