The Sahara as Vaudeville: Premeditated trips and viral propaganda
Recently, in El Aaiún, a farce that has become routine was repeated: a delegation led in this case by the councillor of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Carmelo Ramírez (Nueva Canarias) and Noemí Santana (Podemos), attempted to disembark from the plane knowing in advance that they would be blocked. This was not spontaneous activism. It was theatre with a predetermined script, video recording, and planned media distribution. Last year's events are repeating themselves: the season of staged trips is beginning.
For years, politicians, journalists, and activists have been travelling to the Sahara with the mathematical certainty that their visas will be rejected. They are not seeking to enter; they are seeking to stage a performance and, if possible, record it. The objective is clear: a video that goes viral on social media, is echoed in the media, and translates into the usual self-promotion.
It is the perfect propaganda cycle: 1) They travel knowing that they will be denied entry; 2) Once this happens, they record an overacted video or exaggerate the situation; 3) They go viral by falsely accusing ‘repression’ or ‘expulsion’ where there is simply a visa denial; 4) They capitalise on it with media appearances and public notoriety.
This is how these ‘pilgrimages to the Sahara’ work. They also work because some Spanish media outlets accept the narrative without checking it. Fortunately, their own videos are there to expose them.
Once on the ground, still on board but with the doors open, the ever-present Cabildo councillor vehemently snapped at the officials that ‘you are on Spanish territory, not Moroccan or Sahrawi territory, because you are inside the aircraft. And that is illegal without the captain's permission’. This is legally untenable, as well as false, since the officials never entered the aircraft, as can be seen in the video.
The Chicago Convention (1944), the Tokyo Convention (1963) and international practice are clear:
When a commercial aircraft lands and is parked at a foreign airport, the State in whose territory it is located exercises full sovereignty and applies its immigration and security laws. The old legend that ‘inside the aircraft, the territory of the country of registration applies’ only has limited meaning for certain crimes committed in flight, but it does not in any way block the powers of the State where the aircraft is physically on the ground. The moment the door is opened and the boarding ladder is placed in position marks, in practice, the visible start of border control. Although the reasons given by the adviser in the video apply only to the interior of the aircraft.
The fact that the Moroccan agents remained standing solemnly on the steps, without crossing the threshold of the door, is not a surrender of rights or proof that they ‘need permission from the captain’; it is precisely a gesture of restraint and deference towards him that reinforces the idea that the conflict lies in the question of entry into the country, not inside the aircraft. The captain's authority exists to maintain order and safety on board and to cooperate with the authorities of the state where the aircraft lands, not to set himself up as a kind of sovereign governor who can veto the presence of immigration officials on an aircraft that has already reached its destination, as the members of the pro-Polisario delegation cheerfully claimed.
Ramírez, who presents himself as an institutional adviser, should know this. But when propaganda rules, legal rigour is sacrificed. It is even more surprising when these same arguments were repeated on similar trips, such as that of Inés Miranda's Association of Jurists for the Sahara last year. It is surprising, above all, that, as jurists, they use this argumentative fallacy to influence public opinion, which they know full well will not bother to check the facts. In the end, no matter how many times they repeat this lie, it will not become the truth. But they do end up generating a rumour among the population that favours them as long as no one checks the facts.
The video they themselves released captures the most revealing scene of this carefully prepared theatrical performance: a speech lasting several minutes by Ramírez at the door of the plane, addressing the Moroccan official while turning towards his companion who was recording with his mobile phone. With a tone as rallying as it was boastful, which would test anyone's patience, his speech was full of all kinds of proclamations, provocative statements and insults that were surely intended to elicit some kind of strong reaction or retaliation from the authorities, with the calculated aim of escalating it in the media, which obviously never happened.
Thus, Councillor Ramírez, barely containing himself — not to say agitated — challenges a second Moroccan official who appears in the image wearing a cap and also filming them from the steps: "Hey you, on the other side, why don't you take that away? — referring to the mobile phone in his hand recording the scene — You are on Spanish territory, you have to take that away. We won't allow you to do that,‘ while waving his hand to push away a mobile phone that was supposedly ’invading Spanish soil". A ridiculous scene that provokes both laughter and embarrassment.
Meanwhile, the officials, undeterred and without ever crossing the threshold of the door, exercised their right to document the scene in the same way from the steps. But that tense and aggressive attitude towards the local authority could well have cost Councillor Ramírez an arrest in any other country, including ours.
The Moroccan officials in El Aaiún did their professional duty. They protected borders and enforced immigration regulations in accordance with their rules. Their attitude, described as arrogant in the propaganda video, was not repression: it was professionalism. They did not engage in dialogue because there was nothing to discuss. Ramírez came to record a predetermined incident and to show off, as was later demonstrated when he made it go viral.
Perhaps the most embarrassing thing was to see how the aircraft commander, faced with repeated requests for protection from the Canarian delegation, had to say at one point, ‘But has this happened to you before?’ When Ramírez answered in the affirmative, the captain asked, ‘But did you know before you came what was going to happen? We already know that there are three passengers... it's always the same thing, come on,’ he said, visibly annoyed. The airline's operations were being disrupted and the passengers on the next flight were unable to board because of Carmelo Ramírez. A complete embarrassment for the captain. However, it was a very revealing conversation: it is a fact that this happens repeatedly.
Parallel to this, we have the hypocrisy of Podemos. Noemí Santana travelled with Ramírez. But there is a documented irony that defines the political trajectory of this party: Podemos was a government partner in 2022, when Spain turned towards Moroccan autonomy. At that time, there was complete silence. Coalition loyalty, they said. Pablo Iglesias, then deputy prime minister, stated on prime-time television when questioned on the issue that ‘foreign policy is set by the foreign minister and the prime minister’ and that out of ‘loyalty and respect for each other's competences’, Podemos did not intervene. Now they are in opposition, without government responsibilities, everything is simpler. Suddenly, principles reappear when you are no longer walking on carpet. In fact, a few weeks ago, we had Irene Montero recording videos in Tindouf to go viral on social media. Political capital without risk. It is surprising that the Polisario Front does not criticise their behaviour and welcomes them as if nothing had happened, because in reality, they are taking advantage of them. Where were these principles in 2022 when they had real power?
The last thing this worn-out conflict needs is a propaganda farce by these professional politicians who have only held positions throughout their political careers. Perhaps it is the institutional irrelevance that lies ahead. The eternal cycle of political life is coming to an end for some. With any luck, in the 2027 regional elections, they may be ‘retired’ after the recent internal dismantling of their party (Nueva Canarias). And the Cabildo will cease to be a single-party fiefdom for the selective benefit of other actors such as the Polisario Front, which receives aid but is not accountable and whose whereabouts are unknown once it reaches its supposed destination.
Citizens deserve serious representatives. The theatre of trips to the Sahara is predictable and exhibitionist. It would be shameful if it were to be repeated. Dedicate yourselves to what is really in the interests of the citizens you represent, and less to your own interests or personal militancy at the expense of the institutional shelter that votes provide you.