Hassan II’s Confidential Remarks on Ceuta and Melilla Crisis Revealed After 40 Years

It was an ordinary press conference. But for this Spanish journalist, this meeting with King Hassan II will remain an unforgettable memory.

During the press conference, the monarch returned to the behind-the-scenes of the Spanish-Moroccan crisis over Ceuta and Melilla. Everything revolved around the situation in the Sahara, and the two autonomous cities that Spain had ceded three years earlier at the time of Franco’s death and for which the king had embarked on this impressive Green March. Hassan II said nothing more than his permanent desire to obtain sovereignty over the Sahara, reports Libertad digital.

Half an hour after the press conference, as the journalist was standing in a corner of the room, he was surprised to see the sovereign at his side. He was one of the four people allowed to ask questions during the press conference. The monarch exchanged a brief smile with him before starting a short discussion that he will not forget. "In perfect Spanish, he told me what he may not have wanted to declare a few minutes earlier, out loud, for the other colleagues. Let me tell you that one day I will walk on the Gran Via in Madrid when Morocco has recovered the places of Ceuta and Melilla."

Before the journalist had time to grasp the depth of the message, King Hassan II added: "It will be when you, the Spaniards, have returned Gibraltar." After these remarks, the sovereign shook his hand and the two men exchanged a cordial smile.

Back in Madrid, the journalist recorded all his writings without mentioning his private discussion with the Moroccan monarch. "For reasons that I do not think it is appropriate to explain now, I kept it to myself and did not publish or use it." But this meeting will remain unforgettable since 40 years later, the journalist remains perplexed. "The kings of all countries generally do not disclose information to a journalist if it is of a political nature. And even less so from a Moroccan monarch, who in his country is treated like a god or something similar. Now, Mohammed VI, his son, continues with the obsession that Spain abandons Ceuta and Melilla, our Spanish cities, to Morocco," he adds.