Spain and Morocco in Talks to Restore Relations, Ceuta and Melilla Status in Focus

Secret diplomacy is very active to achieve the rapid restoration of relations between the two countries, confirm Spanish diplomatic sources to El Pais. Intense steps have been taken with Morocco through the EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, and other members of the European Commission, and direct contacts have also been established, the same sources report. The Spanish ambassador to Rabat, Ricardo Díez-Hochleitner, and the director general for the Maghreb, Eva Martinez, who left her post last Tuesday, exchanged between June and early July, with ambassador Karima Benyaich who continues to deal with relations with Spain from Rabat, we are informed.

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To prevent the same causes from producing the same effects in the future, Spain proposes a complete revision of bilateral relations with Morocco, which will clarify the position of each on thorny issues such as the Sahara or the sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla. It will take a lot of time to reach such an ambitious agreement, acknowledge the diplomatic sources. "The [Albares’] statements are certainly a first step towards easing tensions between the two countries. However, it is necessary to sit down at a table to discuss the root causes of the crisis".

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The diplomatic crisis between Morocco and Spain, opened since April with the reception of Brahim Ghali in a hospital in Logroño, Spain, persists. The migration crisis that occurred in May, with the massive arrival of Moroccan migrants in Ceuta, revived the tensions that were actually simmering since December due to Spain’s refusal to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara as the United States did under Trump. Morocco recalled its ambassador to Madrid, Karima Benyaich, for consultations in Rabat. In mid-July, President of the Government Pedro Sanchez thanked his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, in an attempt to "appease" the tension with Morocco.