Spain’s Sahara Policy in Flux as Elections Loom: Morocco Watches Closely

If the Popular Party (PP) wins the early elections on July 23, it will first work to "restore" Spain’s position in North Africa. "Spain has always had a very special and privileged relationship with Morocco, but this has never posed a problem with Algeria. And right now, we need to regain a position in North Africa that allows us to play the role we traditionally play," said Esteban González Pons, deputy secretary general for institutional and international affairs of the PP since 2014, in an interview with El Independiente.

With its change of position on the Sahara in favor of Morocco, Spain has opened a crisis with Algeria, an ally of the Polisario in this conflict. A crisis that the next government will have to untangle. "José Manuel Albares has been a great Foreign Minister for Morocco," ironizes González Pons. PP president Alberto Núñez Feijóo has already announced that he would restore relations with Algeria if he came to power. The suspension by Algeria of trade exchanges between the two countries, after the change of position on the Sahara in March 2022, has created more than one billion euros in losses for Spanish companies, it is reported.

"Spain plays a role in the Algeria-Morocco axis and must play it again. And our good relations with Algeria must in no way obscure or hinder our fraternal friendship with Morocco," details González Pons. Sources close to the Algerian regime warn that the latter could demand a reversal of the position on the Sahara before any resumption of relations. "It is possible to return to the position traditionally maintained by Spain in which fraternity with Morocco has not prevented good relations with Algeria," insists González Pons, adding that on this issue, "the PP will remain within the framework of the United Nations resolutions".

Regarding Morocco’s claims on Ceuta and Melilla, Gonzales Pons affirms that in the eyes of the international community, the two presidios "are part of Spain, like any other province, and that Spain will defend them in all forums". The PP official also believes that the hacking of Pedro Sanchez’s phones using Pegasus is linked to the change of position on the Sahara. "I’m not saying it was Morocco, but the president had nearly three gigabytes of his mobile stolen, according to the National Cryptology Center..." he recalls, assuring that his party will seek to shed light on this matter if it takes power.