Spain Shifts Stance on Western Sahara, Aligning with Morocco’s Autonomy Plan

"From a pragmatic point of view, taking into account the reality of the facts and not voluntarism, the articulation of a broad autonomy as proposed by Rabat seems to us to be the best possible alternative," affirms La Razón in an editorial titled "A realistic solution to the Sahrawi imbroglio". For the author of the article, the decision of the Spanish government "goes beyond the decisions of the UN, since it means the de facto recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara".

Even if it "will open a new front of friction with Unidas Podemos, which supports the holding of a self-determination referendum, and will not be well received by some opposition actors," the new Spanish position "is in line with the position of Washington and the main European powers, including Germany, who have gradually admitted that the formula proposed by Rabat is the best possible outcome," comments this newspaper close to the Spanish right-wing circles. It also points out that "the fact that Spain, as the former administering power, subscribes to the Moroccan position, with all the nuances it wishes, can favor a change of orientation within the UN decolonization committee".

And to conclude: "Without entering into hypotheses about the future, the truth is that a long period of disagreement with Morocco has come to an end - which began, precisely, with the clandestine reception of the Polisario leader (Brahim Ghali, editor’s note), a huge diplomatic error - which has caused serious damage to two nations that are obliged, by history, geography and common interests, to understand each other."