Spain Removes Western Sahara Policy from Foreign Ministry Website Amid Shift Toward Morocco

This removal comes in a tense context, a year and a half after the government of Pedro Sánchez changed course, supporting the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco for Western Sahara. This new orientation marks a break with the policy of neutrality observed by Spain for nearly fifty years. The link to the section concerned now leads to an error page, without replacement by updated content.

Sources within the ministry, quoted by the pro-Polisario newspaper El Independiente, explain this removal by a global update of the website. According to them, this update affects content published a long time ago, although they remain tight-lipped on the specific reasons for the disappearance of this particularly sensitive section. The ministry continues to follow its usual communication line regarding policy changes related to the former Spanish colony.

Before its removal, the section in question provided details on the economic relations between Spain, Morocco and Algeria, highlighting significant commercial and energy ties. Furthermore, Spain’s change of position on Western Sahara, officially announced in March 2022, has met with opposition from the minority partner in the governing coalition as well as the majority of parliamentary groups, with the exception of the PSOE.