Moroccan Authorities Block Basque Lawmakers’ Visit to Western Sahara

As soon as the plane carrying the four Basque parliamentarians landed on the tarmac, it was ordered to return where it came from.

According to the facts reported by EFE, Carmelo Barrio of the Popular Party is the coordinator of a group of five people who took a Binter airline plane that landed in Laâyoune from Las Palmas. Here, the Basque parliamentarians had, according to their agenda, planned a whole series of activities spread over a week.

However, for the Moroccan authorities, these Basque parliamentarians are persona non grata in Morocco. Proof of this, just after their landing, a representative of the Moroccan government ordered them to return to the Canary Islands on the same plane.

In the past, the Moroccan authorities have repeatedly turned back NGO officials or politicians who have tried to go to the Sahara.