By Laia Serrano i Sorroca | Staff Writer
The Moroccan capital city of Rabat hosted, this February, a Spanish-Moroccan Summit carried out in the context of the 1991 Treaty of Friendship, Good-Neighbourliness, and Cooperation. Despite the first article of the agreement contemplating the celebration of an annual high-level meeting between the Heads of Government of both countries, the turbulent relations between them have caused this to be the 12th meeting of such nature. Indeed, the last time the two states had this kind of gathering was in 2015. Eight years have passed since then, with their relations having gone through various stages during this time.
Among the controversial issues that have marked the bilateral relations during the last few years there is the cohabitation, on African soil, of Morocco with the two Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, the Western Sahara question, the management of borders and the economic ties between the two countries.
Particularly, tensions escalated in 2020 when the then-Prime Minister Saadeddinne El Othmani declared the two Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla to be Moroccan. This public statement was viewed as extremely provocative by Spanish authorities, which rapidly called for a rectification. Just four months after these events, in April 2021, the situation further deteriorated with the Polisario Front Leader, Brahim Ghali, being allowed to get medical assistance in a hospital located in northern Spain. This act was followed by Moroccan retaliation, which consisted of the relaxation of border patrolling and the subsequent irregular entry of thousands of migrants to Europe through Ceuta.
In an attempt to prevent more entries through the southern border, Sánchez and his executive decided to recognize – for the first time in history – Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara. This act was not exempt from criticism, both externally and domestically since not only did the decision damage Spanish relations with Algeria, a state that has been supporting the Sahrawian cause, but it also re-opened a domestic debate concerning the administration of migration flows. Certainly, the practice has been long denounced by non-governmental organizations, which accuse Spain and the EU of using Morocco as a buffer state “protecting” them from migration flows, while disregarding the lack of accountability and respect for human rights with which Moroccan police function and operate. Indeed, the frontier patrol has been violating migrants’ basic rights, with deaths being reported every year.
Therefore, the reprisal of talks by the two Mediterranean countries is seen as a rapprochement coming after a period of continuous disputes. The 2023 Rabat Summit concluded with the issuing of a joint declaration in which both countries agreed on cooperating on the stated subjects through bilateral and multilateral channels, especially now that Spain is going to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of 2023.