Rabat – Spain’s opposition People’s Party (PP) has called on the government to keep control of Western Sahara’s airspace, citing potential risks to the Canary Islands and Spain’s strategic interests if Morocco assumes responsibility for its management.
The party’s parliamentary group in the Canary Islands plans to submit a motion at the regional parliament’s next plenary session. The proposal urges Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government to maintain Spanish oversight of the airspace through Enaire, Spain’s air navigation service provider, and the air traffic control center in the Canary Islands.
The PP also wants Madrid to clarify the status of its discussions with Rabat and give the archipelago a greater role in decisions that could affect its air links and security.
David Morales, a PP representative from Gran Canaria who leads the initiative, argues that the Canary Islands cannot remain on the sidelines of a process with direct consequences for the region. He points to aviation safety, the archipelago’s air connectivity, Spain’s military interests, and the role of the armed forces and Civil Guard in humanitarian operations linked to migration across the Atlantic.
The motion calls on the central government to provide the Canary Islands government and parliament with immediate and continuous updates on negotiations with Morocco. It also seeks regional parliamentary approval for any potential change to airspace management, as well as the consent of the relevant international bodies.
The PP bases its position partly on the bilateral rapprochement between Spain and Morocco in 2022. In April of that year, the two countries agreed to open talks on airspace management through a working group on aviation cooperation, as part of efforts to repair strained relations.
Morales maintains that the Canary Islands have not had sufficient representation in the consultations, despite the possible implications for the archipelago. He has called on Sánchez’s government to explain the terms of its discussions with Rabat and spell out the safeguards it would put in place if management responsibilities were to change.
The dispute comes amid broader debate over Spain’s evolving position on Western Sahara and its relations with Morocco. The PP’s initiative seeks to place the issue under greater parliamentary scrutiny, with particular emphasis on the Canary Islands’ interests.
The initiative also comes amid a broader political campaign against Morocco by Spain’s right and far right in the wake of the mass crossing into Ceuta on July 30 and 31, when tens of thousands of migrants entered the Spanish enclave. The PP has accused Morocco of bearing responsibility for the arrivals, while the crisis has fueled anti-Moroccan rhetoric and political attacks on Sánchez’s government.
The party’s latest move over Western Sahara’s airspace adds another point of friction to an already tense debate over Madrid’s relations with Rabat and the role of Morocco in Spain’s security interests.
