El PSOE se desvincula de las declaraciones de Yolanda Díaz sobre Marruecos

Following the controversial statements on Morocco made by Yolanda Díaz, second vice-president of the Spanish government and leader of the new political party SUMAR, the PSOE wanted to dissociate itself from Díaz's opinion on the North African country. 

"It is a personal position. It is certainly not the position of this party or of this government", stressed Pilar Alegría, spokeswoman for the PSOE and Minister of Education, during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Ferraz.

"Our relations with Morocco have been made very clear in the roadmap of the Spanish-Moroccan declaration of 7 April last year, and more recently with the holding of the HLM (High Level Meeting), which covers very important issues for both countries", added the Socialist spokeswoman, according to El Mundo.

No minister from Unidas Podemos, including Díaz, travelled to Rabat on 1 and 2 February to take part in the summit, where the two countries signed 18 Memorandums of Understanding in different sectors. According to the leader of SUMAR, her absence was a "political decision". 

Alegría's statements come after Díaz branded Morocco a "dictatorship" during an interview broadcast on La Sexta. The vice-president also acknowledged that if she were to govern Spain, she would "without a doubt" break the agreement that President Pedro Sánchez reached with the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, and return to Madrid's previous position on Western Sahara. "I am aware that we have to take our neighbour Morocco seriously, but we also have to know that Morocco is what it is," Díaz said. 

Since the turnaround on the Sahara conflict, Spanish-Moroccan relations have strengthened significantly. This new stage in ties between Madrid and Rabat has also boosted bilateral cooperation in different areas such as trade, tourism and culture.