Algeria Condemns Spain’s Shift on Western Sahara as ’Historic Betrayal’

On Friday, Spain ended nearly a year of major diplomatic rift over the Western Sahara issue by changing its position. In a statement, the Moroccan royal palace said that the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, had indicated that the Moroccan "autonomy" plan for the Sahara is "the most serious, realistic and credible basis for resolving the dispute".

The reaction from Algeria, the Polisario’s supporter, did not wait. This act is a "second historic betrayal of the Sahrawi people by Madrid after the ill-fated 1975 agreement," said an Algerian source close to the file in a statement to TSA. To recall, February 1976 marked Spain’s departure from the Sahara. But before this departure, Madrid, Rabat and Nouakchott had signed an agreement in the Spanish capital to partition the Western Sahara between Morocco and Mauritania. An agreement denounced by the Polisario, which had proclaimed the "SADR" after the departure of the Spanish settlers.

Spain’s new position on the Sahara issue is a gesture of support long demanded by Rabat. "Finally, Morocco has obtained what it wanted from Spain," notes an Algerian diplomat.