Spain Responds to Morocco’s New Maritime Boundary Laws, Calls for Agreement

This statement by the minister on her Twitter account came after the publication of these laws in the official journal of Morocco on March 30. The two laws stipulate that the Moroccan territorial sea is 20 km and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is 200 km from its coasts.

For Arancha González Laya, in order to resolve any conflicts related to overlapping areas, Spain and Morocco must agree on the maritime delimitation through a protocol of agreement while respecting the provisions of international law, reports Europa Press.

The laws approved by the lower house of the Moroccan parliament in December and February by the upper house and the signature of Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani on March 6 are causing concerns on the Spanish side, particularly in the Canary Islands, because the declared EEZ overlaps the Spanish EEZ in this area.

Advocating the path of dialogue for the resolution of overlaps, the Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, declared that although the laws are an act of sovereignty, the declaration of the zones could create overlaps with neighboring countries, particularly Spain. He did not fail to inform his Spanish counterpart of his desire to advocate dialogue for the resolution of overlaps during Arancha González Laya’s visit to Rabat in January. It is dialogue for mutually agreed solutions, not unilateral decisions, he insisted. This should calm the citizens of the Canaries.

According to the minister, by approving the laws, the kingdom is only exercising a right recognized by the Convention on the Law of the Sea to delimit its maritime zones, a convention ratified by many countries such as Spain. But he specifies that in the event of an overlap, the delimitation must be clearly known and unambiguous.

The importance of the two laws lies in the fact that they aim to update the legal arsenal of the Kingdom, especially with regard to the Sahara. For him, the approval of these laws finds their basis in the speech of King Mohammed VI, on the anniversary of the Green March.