Trump y Mohamed VI dejan fuera de juego a Sánchez
The Spanish government was neither invited, nor consulted, nor expected in the diplomatic-commercial operation between the Trump Administration and Morocco that has led to US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. This initiative is furthermore conducive to the establishment of relations between Morocco and Israel and the sale of US weapons, drones and precision-guided munitions worth $1 billion, according to the Trump Administration itself, which has informed Congress. The collateral damage to third parties was the postponement until February of the controversial high-level meeting between the Spanish and Moroccan governments scheduled for 17 December in Rabat. The official justification for the seriousness of the pandemic, set out in a sad night-time communiqué from the Spanish foreign ministry, according to the Moroccan, was even more insulting as it represented an obvious impotence in the face of the ungrateful surprise of not having any idea of what had been negotiated between Washington and Rabat for some 18 months.
King Mohammed VI could not miss the opportunity to achieve a major diplomatic success with the support of the United States for his proposal for autonomy that was "serious, credible and realistic", according to the Trump tweet, as the only basis for a fair and lasting solution to the dispute over the territory of Western Sahara that has been going on for over 40 years. Moroccan sources point out that the time for announcing the agreement was urgent in the interests of the US president, who had only been in the White House for a short time. None of the protagonists appears to have taken into account that a week later an important meeting was scheduled between Morocco and Spain, with relevant issues to be settled, and that the announcement of America's recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara put Pedro Sánchez out of the picture and signified a no-no that is difficult to explain at present.
It was not easy for the Spanish prime minister to hold this summit in Rabat because the Moroccan monarch had announced that his agenda was full and that as a precaution against the coronavirus he would not receive an audience, as has been the custom with previous Spanish presidents who have taken part in this type of summit on Moroccan soil. The "cautious" reaction to preserve the health of the Moroccan king was related to the huge unease caused in the highest circles of royal power in Morocco by the tweet of the second vice-president of the Spanish executive, Pablo Iglesias, on 15 November, calling for a referendum to be held in Western Sahara as a reaction to the Moroccan military intervention to unblock the movement of hundreds of lorries and vehicles at the Guerguerat pass, which had been interrupted for 21 days by Polisario Front activists. A blockade action as a reaction to Resolution 2548, which renewed the mandate of MINURSO, the United Nations mission in Western Sahara, for a further year and called on the parties to find a negotiated political solution to the conflict without expressly mentioning the holding of the referendum. This quote has not been explicitly included for nine years. Iglesias mentions Security Council resolutions that have already been overtaken by the reality of the situation on the ground and does not consider the obvious negative consequences that his tweet was going to have on the Moroccan scene and, therefore, on the atmosphere for the holding of a summit that had already been called between the two governments.
Pedro Sanchez threw the ball out during his speech to the media in Brussels after last Friday's European Council, claiming that relations between the two countries are excellent and that nothing is happening because they are wary of the virus and are delaying the meeting by a couple of months. I am sure that the people of Melilla and Ceuta do not share Sanchez's complacency because one of the urgent issues to be resolved between Spain and Morocco is the unilateral closure of borders by Morocco, due to the coronavirus according to the official version in Rabat, but which in Spanish cities is considered to have been caused by Moroccan commercial interests and their intention to asphyxiate them economically and commercially.
The day-to-day relations between Spain and Morocco have many interwoven interests in all sectors of economic, commercial, social, cultural and even sporting activity because of Morocco's passion for the Spanish football league. Relations between the two neighbouring countries can be considered excellent on a general level but, apart from political and media quarrels, there are two major issues to be settled: the aforementioned situation of Ceuta and Melilla and the migratory flow towards the Canary Islands in recent weeks, which has created a serious crisis in the Spanish islands and the Sanchez government on account of the somewhat irregular transfer of many of these immigrants from the Canaries to various cities on the peninsula such as Granada and Valencia, without the knowledge of the respective local and regional authorities.
Mohammed VI has gained very significant support for Moroccan interests in the Sahara with Trump, but he should not now disdain countries such as Spain and France, which are key to his vital relations with the European Union, and the other party to the conflict, such as Algeria and Russia.
Spain is now looking around to determine whether it maintains its obligatory neutrality in line with the United Nations as the theoretical administrator of the territory or whether Trump's initiative can provide a definitive boost to achieving a negotiated solution between the parties as envisaged by the UN, and as desired by many of the Saharawis, who need most to put an end to the unworthy life in the Tindouf camps.
It was in October 2011 when the then PSOE MP Pedro Sanchez was part of a delegation from the National Democratic Institute (NDI), considered in Europe a lobby of the US Democrats, as an observer of the parliamentary elections in Morocco. These elections took place shortly after the Moroccan constitutional reform in which the king ceded some of his powers to the executive, and his interest in everything was therefore obvious. However, the final recommendations of the report signed by the five observers, one of whom was Pedro Sánchez, did not sit well with the Moroccan royal environment. Among other statements, the worst received were those claiming that votes were being burned, votes were being bought, no control was being exercised over campaign financing, and calls for reform of the electoral system and greater involvement of civil society in the country's political life. Without going into the report's harsh criticisms, the fact is that Pedro Sánchez earned a great deal of antipathy from both Mohammed VI and his entourage. The passing of the years did not make the Alaouite monarch forget what he had considered a great affront to his personal efforts to open up democracy and to the steps he had been taking since coming to power to achieve a system that was as democratic as possible every day. At the palace they always argue that the proof lies in the fact that the moderate Islamist Justice and Development party has been governing the country for two terms, although its postulates are not to the liking of the royalty, but are backed by the citizens' vote.
When Pedro Sánchez became president of the Spanish government following the motion of censure against Rajoy in June 2018, he did not make the first trip abroad to Rabat, as had been the custom of all the presidents of the recent Spanish democracy, because the king's agenda did not find the right space. The visit took place five months later, in November that year, following personal dealings with Mohammed VI by PSOE personalities such as Felipe González himself and even the Spanish King Felipe VI.
On this occasion Pedro Sánchez's coalition with Pablo Iglesias and his proposals against Morocco's interests did not exactly help, particularly with the tweet from the leader of United We Can, but also as second vice president, in favour of the referendum in the Sahara.
Fight against COVID-19: Ceuta and Melilla need Morocco to open the borders that have been closed since March and recover the economic activity lost with huge losses due to lack of raw materials and labour.
Jurisdictional waters in the area of the Canary Islands: beyond the problem of irregular migration, Morocco is claiming jurisdictional waters in this area of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean that overlap with those of Spain.
Migration crisis in the Canary Islands: the migration problem must be tackled by the European Union. Morocco is calling for more aid to carry out more regularisations of sub-Saharans and to be able to control more effectively the flows that have increased due to the coronavirus in several African countries.
Measures to recover tourism: Nearly a million Moroccans come to Spain as tourists and over a million Spaniards do the same in Morocco. The recovery of tourism is essential for both countries.
New Spanish ambassador and consul in Rabat: Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner has had to extend his stay as ambassador after serving five years in the post. The Consulate in Rabat has been rejected by Fernando Villalonga and is vacant.
Reviewing the functioning of the fishing agreement; the construction of the new port of Dakhla in Western Sahara; the mineral wealth of the Tropic seamount are some of the relevant issues to be discussed between the two neighbouring countries.