España y Marruecos refuerzan su alianza estratégica en tiempos de pandemia
The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has had a direct impact on the economy of Spain and Morocco. However, both nations have taken advantage of this situation of instability to strengthen their diplomatic relations through cooperation in various areas such as those related to the fight against terrorism, organized crime and illegal immigration, as well as the existing partnership in the sectors of investment, trade and economic exchanges, scientific research, education and culture.
The Moroccan news agency MAP has highlighted through a statement the fact that the multidimensional partnership relations between Spain and Morocco "have continued to develop throughout the current year, through initiatives, position papers and exchanges of visits by senior officials from two countries determined to open new horizons in the bilateral partnership". According to this agency, these relations, based on mutual trust and long-standing links, have been further strengthened in recent months. "Morocco is the Iberian country's second economic partner outside the European Union, while Spain has become Morocco's main trading partner", underlines the statement written by Hafid El Bekkali.
Likewise, issues related to the area of security or the fight against terrorism also occupy an important place in the dynamics of bilateral cooperation. This article recalls the meeting between the President of the Spanish Executive, Pedro Sanchez, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Living Abroad, Nasser Bourita, during which diplomatic relations between the two nations were analysed and the entry of the agricultural and fisheries agreements between the two parties, ratified in August 2019, was celebrated.
In January and before the world came to a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, Arancha González Laya, visited the Kingdom and highlighted the excellence of the relations between both countries. "On this occasion, she reiterated the clear, precise and firm position of her country on the question of the Moroccan Sahara, pointing out that Madrid defends the centrality of the United Nations in the search for a solution to this dispute", the article points out. "Morocco is a zone of stability in an unstable region", the minister said during her visit after stressing that the strengthening of links with Morocco was an "intelligent and mutually beneficial option".
With regard to ilegal migration, Morocco and Spain have established exemplary cooperation to put an end to illegal immigration and various forms of crime, particularly those linked to terrorism. One month after the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Morocco, the Minister of the Interior met his Moroccan counterpart. "The daily joint action carried out by the security services of Spain and Morocco is exemplary and produces positive and concrete results," said Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who expressed Spain's willingness to continue working on the basis of "mutual trust" and to defend before European institutions "the crucial importance of Morocco as a strategic partner in the field of migration, among others.
"The distinguished relations between Morocco and Spain, as well as the initiatives and positions that both countries have adopted in the framework of bilateral cooperation, clearly reflect the great interest shown by Madrid and Rabat to support, strengthen and deepen their partnership in various fields," the article published in the MAP news agency concludes.