The Spanish Foreign Minister defends the ‘clear roadmap’ with Morocco regarding the airspace of Western Sahara
José Manuel Albares, Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs, made it clear in the Spanish Congress's control session that there is a ‘clear and transparent roadmap’ in the excellent diplomatic relationship that now exists with Morocco, also with regard to the management of Western Sahara's airspace.
José Manuel Albares defended the good political harmony between the two kingdoms after the strengthening of the alliance that came with the recognition by the Spanish government of Pedro Sánchez of the Moroccan Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara as the most ‘serious, credible and realistic’ option to resolve the Saharawi dispute, which has lasted for almost five decades since the end of the Spanish colonial period.
A proposal from the North African country that provides for a large degree of autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty, respecting the resolutions of the United Nations (UN), which would give the Saharawi authorities considerable room for manoeuvre, leaving foreign policy and security in the hands of the Moroccan state, and which would serve for the profound development of the territory in various areas.
Following this recognition, the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, formally invited the President of the Spanish Government to a meeting in Rabat in April 2022, where the roadmap for future Spanish-Moroccan relations was drawn up, based on good relations, cooperation in all aspects and deep economic collaboration.
This was followed by the High-Level Meeting (HLM) in February 2023, led by Pedro Sánchez himself and Aziz Akhannouch, head of the Moroccan government, at which many memoranda of understanding were signed in various areas of great benefit to both nations and in which many issues were addressed, including political, economic and cultural issues.
These Spanish-Moroccan negotiations, generated by the new dynamic of total understanding between the two countries, also addressed the management of Western Saharan airspace.
In the last parliamentary intervention, José Manuel Albares rejected the questioning of EH Bildu deputy Jon Iñarritu, who alluded to ‘strange theories’ regarding the issue of the management of Western Sahara's airspace, in line with the existing political understanding between Spain and Morocco.
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs rejected any such position, defending the ‘clear and transparent roadmap’ of Spain and Morocco on this issue. José Manuel Albares stated that decisions on airspace in this area are technical in nature and are made between private companies operating in that spectrum and the entities in charge of Civil Aviation. An airspace that is under Spanish control, according to the Spanish minister.
Albares referred, for example, to the new air routes implemented by the airline Ryanair for 2025 between Dakhla, a city in Western Sahara, and the airports of Madrid, the capital of Spain, and Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands.
The Irish airline already announced last year that it would connect Dakhla directly with Madrid and Lanzarote thanks to its agreement with the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT). These are connections with two weekly flights on each of the routes.
The Dakhla-Madrid flight is the first direct connection from the city in Western Sahara to the Iberian Peninsula via Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport. As for the Lanzarote-Dakhla route, it will strengthen connections with the Canary Islands, a key market for tourism to the enclave in the Sahara due to the geographical proximity between the two points.
These new connections mean a doubling of the international air capacity of the airport of Dakhla, reaching 47,000 seats, making Spain the main source of tourism for this area.
The Spanish minister assured that there is nothing strange or hidden in the relations between Spain and Morocco, which are ‘extraordinarily beneficial’ for both nations.