The Spanish government has assured that it is "closely" following the oil exploration planned by Morocco off Tarfaya, near the Canary Islands, which could harm Spain’s interests.
Morocco announced on Monday its plan to prospect for oil, gas and tellurium in the Tarfaya area, off the coast of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands. The news is worrying the Canarian authorities.
The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) plans to meet with shipping companies, representatives of the Moroccan merchant navy and port authorities on Monday to agree on the exact date for the resumption of maritime links with Morocco.
The resumption of relations between Spain and Morocco will facilitate the rapid return of migrants who arrived in the Canary Islands. In addition to the weekly flight to Laâyoune that transports about 80 migrants to Morocco, two other flights to Casablanca and Agadir will be organized.
The president of Nueva Canarias (NC), Román Rodríguez, drew the attention of the Spanish government on Saturday to the persistence of Morocco’s annexationist desires on Ceuta , Melilla and certain Spanish islands, including the Canaries.
The President of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres (PSOE), welcomed the decision of the Spanish and Moroccan governments to reactivate the working group on the delimitation of maritime spaces on the Atlantic facade "with the aim of making concrete progress", hoping that Morocco’s "unilateral decisions" will be reconsidered.
During his visit to Morocco on Thursday, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, will reassure King Mohammed VI that his promise to double the military budget is not aimed at strengthening the security of Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands, territories claimed by Morocco.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares assured this Wednesday, on the eve of his departure to Morocco alongside President Pedro Sanchez, that Spain’s interests, and particularly those of the Canary Islands, "will always be defended" against Morocco.
The Spanish airline Binter proceeded on Saturday with the inauguration of the new flight between Gran Canaria and Guelmim. The first passengers were welcomed with water jets at the end of the morning, as tradition requires.
The Vox party denounced on Monday the arrival of 293 migrants to the Canary Islands over the weekend, stressing that the change in Spain’s position on the Sahara, which ended the crisis with Morocco, has not yet changed the migration situation.
The airline Binter will offer, starting April 2, two weekly flights between Gran Canaria and Guelmim, as part of the summer season. However, these links are likely to be modified as of July.
The Canarian Coalition-Canarian Nationalist Party (CC-PNC) asks the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, to confirm whether Morocco could have claimed a territory of the Canary Islands if Spain had not supported the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara.