“We have to build mutual respect. By swallowing snakes, if necessary. » The Spanish socialist MEP Juan Fernandez Lopez Aguilar could hardly better summarize the position adopted by Madrid with regard to Rabat, in recent months, to renew relations between Spain and Morocco. This former minister was referring to the vote, on January 19, by the European Parliament of a resolution urging “the Moroccan authorities to respect freedom of expression and of the media” and worrying “allegations that the Moroccan authorities have tried to bribe elected members of the European Parliament”. The text, which angered Rabat and which followed revelations involving Morocco and Qatar, was only rejected by the extreme right and… by Spanish socialist deputies.
In Madrid, the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, tried to close the controversy by explaining on January 24, in Madrid, that the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) did not share ” certain elements of the text. “Do not confuse prudence with pusillanimity in the face of a powerful enemy. That’s not how you end bullying.” him retorted the spokesman of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV, moderate right), Aitor Esteban. Pedro Sanchez insisted on “the strategic importance for Spain and for the European Union of having the best relations with Morocco”. He there was no question, for him, of risking a misstep on the eve of the high-level meeting which was to take place on Wednesday 1er and Thursday, February 2, in Rabat, described as“historical” by the government.
It has been eight years since Morocco and Spain held a joint summit, a sign of the serious crisis that the relationship between the two countries has gone through. The tension was at its height when in April 2021, Spain welcomed and hospitalized, at the request of Algiers, Brahim Ghali, the leader of the Sahrawi independence movement of the Polisario Front, suffering from Covid-19. In response to what it considered an affront, Morocco did not, at a minimum, oppose the illegal entry of more than ten thousand of its citizens, including hundreds of minors, into the Spanish enclave. from Ceuta.
“Risky Bets”
In Rabat, Wednesday and Thursday, the two residents of the Strait of Gibraltar are expected to stage their reconciliation, eleven months after the complete change in Spain’s traditionally neutral position on its former colony of Western Sahara. In March 2022, in a letter to King Mohammed VI, Pedro Sanchez indeed described the Moroccan plan as“autonomy” of Western Sahara from “serious, realistic and credible”. All Spanish parties except the PSOE condemned the decision, including its coalition partners. Incidentally, the government has drawn the wrath of Algeria, the main supporter of the Polisario Front. Algiers has recalled its ambassador and severed trade relations with Spain, with the exception of gas exports, which represent a quarter of Spanish consumption and for which it has renegotiated the price sharply upwards.
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