Spain Reaffirms UN-Led Approach to Western Sahara Conflict Despite Autonomy Plan Support

The Spanish government "wants a quick solution within the framework of the United Nations resolutions" to the conflict in the Sahara that has lasted for nearly 50 years, Rodriguez said in an interview with TVE, stressing that Spain has not "changed" its position on the Sahara.

President Pedro Sanchez sent a letter to Mohammed VI in mid-March in which he expressed Spain’s support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara, considered "the most serious, realistic and credible basis" for the conflict. A decision criticized by the opposition and the coalition partners in the Spanish government, as well as by the Polisario and Algeria.

However, this turnaround in Spain’s traditional position has been welcomed by Morocco. In his speech on August 20 on the occasion of the Feast of the Revolution of the King and the People, Mohammed VI again thanked Spain for its "clear and responsible position" on the Sahara. "This positive position has opened the way for a new stage" in relations between Spain and Morocco, after Sanchez’s visit to Rabat on April 7.