The sea and land borders between Morocco and Spain are open again. On Thursday, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain settled a year-long diplomatic row during a meeting in the Moroccan capital Rabat. It is time for a “new phase”, they thought. Good news for the roughly three million European Moroccans who usually spend their summer under the North African sun.
The quarrel arose after it turned out that Spain had received the corona-infected Polisario celebrity Brahim Gali in a hospital in Madrid, without informing Rabat. The Polisario is a Spanish independence movement active in Western Sahara — that territory was in Spanish hands until 1975, but has since been regarded by Moroccans as its own territory.
Morocco responded to the Spanish action by, among other things, recalling its ambassador in Madrid. The country also let about 8,000 migrants through to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, in northern Morocco.
Also read: Prime Minister Sánchez annoys Spanish parliament with visit to Morocco
Striking twist
Last month, Sánchez took a major step towards a solution to the conflict by backing Morocco’s autonomous plan over Western Sahara. A striking twist, because before that Spain had always opposed Moroccan control over the region — in line with the international community.
Algeria, which supports Polisario, did not thank Sánchez and recalled its ambassador to Spain. The rising tensions between Algeria and the southern European country are spicy, among other things, because Algeria supplies part of the gas used by Spain.
Nevertheless, Sánchez stuck to his stance on Thursday and reiterated his support for Moroccan autonomy over Western Sahara. This has brought him a lot of criticism in his own country, partly because he would abandon the Saharans, who form a large community in Spain.