Spanish Navy Warns of Moroccan Encroachment Near Chafarinas Islands

Navy sources said they have had "for months" "evidence" of Morocco’s authorization to a company to install a fish farm near the Chafarinas Islands, located 3 kilometers from Morocco. They claim to have passed this information on to the operations command, which in turn transferred it to the Directorate General of Defense Policy, according to Europa Press.

To read: Spanish Far-Right Party Vox Alleges Moroccan Encroachment Near Chafarinas Islands

The information had come in the midst of the crisis between Spain and Morocco, caused by the Spanish government’s refusal to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty in the Sahara, and exacerbated by the entry in April of the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, into Spain. Relations have improved since then. In his speech on the occasion of the Throne Feast in August, King Mohammed VI expressed his willingness to "inaugurate a new stage" in relations between the two countries, based on "trust, transparency, mutual respect and respect for commitments".

To read: article 86851

For his part, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, recently welcomed the "positive signs" coming from Rabat, calling for the return to his post of the Moroccan ambassador to Madrid, recalled to Morocco since May 18, in the midst of the migration crisis, and the holding of the high-level meeting postponed sine die due to the pandemic.

Last weekend, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Green March, Mohammed VI reiterated the belonging of the Sahara to the Moroccan territory, alluding to the rulings of the EU Court (ECJ) which in September annulled the fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco including Western Sahara.