Spanish Officials: Morocco Not a Military Threat, but Economic Concerns Persist

Morocco "does not constitute a physical or military threat" to Spain, but it causes economic and commercial "damage" to Ceuta and Melilla, said PP senator Fernando Gutiérrez Díaz de Otazu to the press, highlighting Morocco’s non-compliance with the travel regime and the closure of customs.

Supporting the statements of General Loreto Gutiérrez Hurtado, director of the National Security Department (DSN), who recently assured that Morocco is not among the threats facing Spain, the senator stressed that Morocco’s "unilateral" and sporadic actions by some of its political leaders "have a negative impact on the normal development of Ceuta and Melilla".

"It is not a threat, but rather a disagreement and an incorrect action that the Spanish government must face," said Fernando Gutiérrez, insisting on the need to warm up ties with Morocco, a "friendly neighbor with whom Spain maintains close relations in many areas, both bilaterally and with the rest of the European Union countries".