© Provided by Agencia EFE
Madrid, March 20 (EFE).- The Moroccan ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, who returned to her post in Madrid today, assured that her country appreciates “at its fair value” Spain’s support for the Moroccan proposal for autonomy for the Sahara, and stressed that from now on a “new stage” is opening in relations between the two countries.
“A new stage is opening, a new page in relations between the two countries, and it will be an important stage,” Benyaich told Efe shortly following landing in Madrid.
The return of the ambassador takes place two days following the Spanish government announced that it supports the Moroccan proposal for autonomy for the Sahara, considering it the “most realistic” basis for resolving the conflict.
The presence of the ambassador in Madrid once once more puts an end to almost a year of diplomatic crisis, triggered by Spain’s decision to welcome the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Gali, in April 2021 to treat covid-19 in a Spanish hospital .
NEIGHBORS AND PARTNERS
“It is a pleasure to return to work in Madrid and strengthen relations between Spain and Morocco, as our respective countries have determined,” said Benyaich shortly following landing in the capital.
Benyaich was “happy and satisfied” with her return to her post and stressed that “crises only occur among those of us who are family, and now it is a pleasure to return to work in Madrid.” “We are sister countries, and it is an honor to help deepen our relations,” she concluded.
The Moroccan ambassador was called to her country for consultations on May 18, following the crisis opened by the stay in Spain of the Saharawi leader and the day following the Spanish Government asked Rabat for explanations regarding the massive influx of immigrants from Morocco to the Spanish city of Ceuta, bordering that country.
THE SAHARA IN SPANISH-MOROCCAN RELATIONS
The political future of Western Sahara is a key issue in Spanish-Moroccan relations, since the former Spanish colony is a territory that Morocco annexed in 1975 in the midst of the decolonization process and which it claims as its own.
The normalization of relations takes place two days following Spain announced that it supports the Moroccan proposal for autonomy for Western Sahara, considering it “the most serious, credible and realistic basis for the resolution of this dispute” over the sovereignty of the former colony. Spanish.
With this, Spain carries out a complete turn in its position regarding the future of that territory, since until now it defended the UN agreements to hold a referendum in the Sahara that determines its political future.
“Morocco appreciates at its fair value” this new position of Spain, the ambassador told Efe, who however declined to comment on Algeria’s decision to call its ambassador in Madrid for consultations.
Precisely this change in Spain’s position has triggered tension with Algiers, Rabat’s rival in North Africa and the main supporter of Saharawi independence.
IRREGULAR IMMIGRATION
Once the agreement between Spain and Morocco on the future of the Sahara has been reached, it remains to be seen how the second major issue affecting bilateral relations will evolve: irregular immigration.
Morocco is the exit door for thousands of immigrants from the African continent who aim to reach Europe and for whom Spain is the access point.
Precisely, the last great migratory crisis between the two countries took place a few days following Gali’s presence in Spain became known, when on May 18 of last year the city of Ceuta suffered the worst migratory crisis in years, with the arrival of some 10,000 immigrants from that country in just 48 hours, including some 800 minors.
From the Spanish Government, this change in Spain’s position regarding the Sahara and the normalization of relations between Spain and Morocco are related to an improvement in the collaboration of the North African country on irregular immigration issues.
“We are going to have a good relationship with Morocco, we are going to have a stable relationship”, in which Spain’s neighbor on its southern border “commits to collaborate once morest human trafficking, once morest illegal immigration”, declared the Spaniard yesterday of the Presidency, Felix Bolaños.
(c) EFE Agency