Spanish Developer Marina d’Or Seeks $407 Million from Morocco in Real Estate Dispute

The law firm B. Cremades & Asociados, acting on behalf of Marina d’Or, has filed a request for arbitration to settle disputes with Morocco. The real estate company explains that it participated in 2004 in a project to build cities initiated by the Moroccan authorities and supported by the World Bank and the European Union, aimed at decongesting urban centers, reports Ok Diario.

The "Ville nouvelle du Tamesna" project was designed on the outskirts of Rabat, between Témara and Sidi Yahia Zaer. According to the Spanish company, Morocco has committed to equipping the complex with all the necessary facilities and infrastructure, and to connecting the new city to the capital by highway, train and other transport services. But in the end, Marina d’Or denounces "the inaction of the Moroccan government" which has reduced this dream city to only a few isolated buildings and not even having a waste collection service.

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The Spanish group also claims to have participated in the construction of the "La Perle de Tanger" complex. At this level, it explains that it has been "the victim of administrative blockage resulting from internal conflicts between the Moroccan authorities" during the execution of the project. Before the request for international arbitration, Marina d’Or assures that it has tried an amicable settlement with the Moroccan government, without success.

The request for international arbitration is based on the investment protection guarantees established in the Bilateral Treaty for the Promotion and Protection of Investments, signed between Spain and Morocco on December 11, 1997. It comes after the normalization of relations between the two countries, which have dragged on a long and serious crisis provoked by the arrival of the Polisario Front leader, Brahim Ghali, in Spain in April 2021 and the migration crisis in Ceuta that followed in May of the same year.