Marruecos y su gesto de aplazamiento sin fecha de la delimitación de fronteras marítimas con Canarias

Morocco has decided to postpone the approval of the laws on the demarcation of the maritime waters shared with the Canary Islands in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean without a fixed date. A move that is quite significant.  

This approval was scheduled for Monday 3 October, and the decision of the Alaouite kingdom was considered "good news" by the President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, who pointed out that the delimitation proposed by Morocco included the waters around the archipelago which are in Spain's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

The autonomous government of the Canary Islands understands that this postponement is important, as the North African country had a certain interest in taking over part of what are considered to be the waters around the Canary Islands in order to extend its maritime extension. Therefore, the sine die suspension of the approval of these laws means that Morocco is giving up for the time being on its claims in this respect.  

Although Ángel Víctor Torres called on the Spanish government to be very vigilant in order to prevent Morocco from continuing to try to annex part of the waters around the Canary Islands in the future, according to media outlets such as Bladi and Marruecom. 

Margarita Robles, the Spanish Minister of Defence, also took the same line, who, during a meeting with the Canary Islands president, stated with the latter that "it is clear" that the levels of control and vigilance must be maintained to protect the interests of the islands and the mainland.  

Indeed, this summer it was announced that Spain and Morocco were once again negotiating the delimitation of maritime borders. These negotiations were suspended after the diplomatic rift between the two nations, which had its greatest discordant point in the reception in Spanish territory of Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front (an organisation at odds with Morocco over Western Sahara), to be treated for a respiratory ailment in a hospital in Logroño in April 2021. This was criticised by Morocco for a lack of loyalty from a country such as Spain, considered a partner and ally.  

As a result of this, there have been episodes that have strained the situation between the two nations, such as the illegal entry of thousands of migrants across the Ceuta border in the face of the passivity of the Moroccan authorities, and the withdrawal of the Alawi ambassador from Madrid.  

Spain tried to bring positions closer together with various friendly gestures, such as those made by King Felipe VI or the appointment of José Manuel Albares as Foreign Minister to replace Arancha González Laya, who was affected by the Ghali case.  

Finally, the definitive political move that ensured a return to good relations between Spain and Morocco came with the decision by the Spanish government of Pedro Sánchez to recognise the Moroccan proposal for autonomy for Western Sahara as the most 'credible, serious and realistic' way to end the Sahrawi conflict. From there came King Mohammed VI's invitation to the Spanish Prime Minister to Rabat in the middle of Ramadan this year to strengthen ties and to draw up the roadmap that has since marked the relationship between the two neighbours, which in recent months has been marked by good harmony and cooperation in various areas such as migration, borders and the fight against terrorism.