Former Spanish Minister Claims Morocco Has Greater Press Freedom Than Spain

In an interview published this Sunday on the Moroccan website Rue20, the former socialist minister reiterated her position regarding Ceuta and Melilla, which she says are "an affront to Morocco’s territorial integrity". Relieved of her duties as education advisor at the Spanish embassy in Rabat a few months ago, Trujillo had questioned in September the "Spanishness" of the two autonomous cities, stressing that they are "vestiges of the past that hinder Morocco’s economic and political independence and the good relations between the two countries".

Trujillo says she was not surprised by the criticism she received from the Spanish press after these statements, deploring that in Spain "there is no protection against insults and slander against those who have held positions of responsibility". "In Spain, there is no freedom of expression when one departs from official thinking," she said, adding that "freedom of expression and information is more protected in Morocco than in Spain" and that her country should "take example" on the kingdom to no longer be "so misinformed and manipulated".

For the former Minister of Housing under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, "the time has come" to open the debate around the two Spanish enclaves. "Morocco has claimed these territories on many occasions... The political response to the border problem is dialogue and non-diversion and silence. The Moroccan claim is fully justified..." she insisted. And she concluded: "If Spain has changed its traditional position on the Sahara, why can’t it change its position on Ceuta and Melilla and the islands and rocks?"