Spanish Journalist Compares Morocco’s Regime to Franco’s Dictatorship, Cites Press Freedom Concerns

"Morocco is a dictatorship like the Franco regime was. The head of state, who is the king, holds all the powers. It is a country where there is no freedom. But there is no need to discuss this, just read the Moroccan constitution. When Mohammed VI came to the throne in 1999, there were no journalists or people imprisoned for freedom of expression issues. Today, there are a few, especially three influential journalists who have been sentenced to prison terms between 5 and 15 years," Cembrero said in an interview with La Provincia.

The journalist claims to be a victim of judicial "harassment" by the Moroccan authorities since 2014, and believes he knows the main reason. "In 2012, I started saying that the King of Morocco was never or rarely in his country. I think that really annoyed them. Morocco has a serious problem with the absence of the king...," he explains, recalling that he has already been brought to justice four times by Morocco and has "never lost a trial". These repeated trials have caused him a lot of professional damage, he says.

Cembrero is convinced that Morocco has "influence over the entire Spanish state, but particularly on the socialist wing of the government". "Morocco, with the pressure instruments it has, has obtained enormous concessions in foreign policy, particularly on the Western Sahara, in exchange for practically nothing," he details, noting that Spain, for its part, has obtained "the reduction of illegal immigration, particularly to the Canary Islands. But if Morocco gets angry, it can reopen the tap overnight."

The Spanish journalist believes that the Moroccan authorities, "even in their wildest dreams," do not think of claiming the Canary Islands. What the kingdom is claiming, on the other hand, to realize its territorial integrity, is "the Sahara and its waters" to the south, and "Ceuta, Melilla and all the rocks" to the north, he analyzes. Regarding Morocco’s rearmament, Cembrero points out that it is aimed at Algeria and the Polisario Front and that the kingdom "continues to have a defense budget and means well below those of Spain".