Spain Summons Moroccan Diplomat Over Airport Health Control Accusations

The Moroccan Ministry of Health issued a statement on Monday accusing the Spanish authorities of not "strictly" respecting health controls at airports and posing a "threat" to the Moroccan population. In response, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Moroccan embassy in Madrid, Farid Aoulouhaj, to ask for explanations about this statement, according to diplomatic sources at El Confidencial.

To read: Morocco Extends Flight Ban with Spain over COVID-19 Protocol Concerns

On the sidelines of a meeting with his Luxembourg counterpart, Jean Asselborn, Albares stated that the accusations of the Moroccan Ministry of Health "do not reflect reality" and are therefore "unacceptable". This rapid and public reaction of the head of Spanish diplomacy against Morocco, the first since he took up this position, contrasts with the wait-and-see attitude observed on certain files such as the Moroccan "attacks" in Spanish waters, particularly around the Chafarinas Islands where a Moroccan company has obtained authorization to install a fish farm.

To read: article 88681

On November 29, Morocco closed its airspace to limit the rapid spread of the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron. Special flights are planned for the repatriation of Moroccans stranded in Europe from Portugal, Spain not respecting, accuses Morocco, the health controls at the airports. According to the Spanish authorities, this decision is only the extension of the crisis opened with Morocco since the reception, last April, of the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, for health reasons. The crisis has been reinforced by the massive arrival, in May, of Moroccan migrants in Ceuta, causing an unprecedented migration crisis.