Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hosted his Moroccan counterpart in Madrid on Thursday for talks with the European Union’s strategic North African neighbour, notably on the sensitive Western Sahara.
The vast, resource-rich former Spanish colony mostly controlled by Morocco has long complicated closer relations between Rabat and the bloc, with the Algeria-backed Polisario Front seeking independence for the territory.
Spain improved its previously fraught ties with Morocco in 2022 after supporting Rabat’s plan to grant the Western Sahara autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, a stance also supported by the United States and France.
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Sánchez and Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch were due to discuss the Western Sahara before the signing of agreements, including on agriculture and fishing.
Rabat is seeking gains in the management of the Western Sahara’s airspace, controlled by Spain from the Atlantic archipelago of the Canary Islands.
“When there is a territory under a country’s sovereignty, it is better that the country takes charge of managing all air, land or maritime matters,” Moroccan Trade Minister Ryad Mezzour told El Mundo daily.
Immigration was due to be another key topic. Morocco is a key EU partner in managing irregular migration, sharing the bloc’s only land border with Africa at the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
“Morocco is playing a major role in combating illegal immigration,” Mezzour told El Mundo.
“We are making every effort, together with our partners, to do what we must do so that it is not a problem.”
