“Until the End of Time” versus “Not a Centimeter”: Morocco and Spain’s Standoff over Ceuta

Tensions are rising again between Madrid and Rabat over Ceuta. Just after Pedro Sánchez had set “red lines” for Morocco before the Spanish Parliament, a second Moroccan minister publicly reaffirmed the Kingdom’s claim to the city.

Addressing lawmakers, the Spanish prime minister assured them that Spain’s territorial integrity, as well as national sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, would always be defended.

“Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish and will remain so until the end of time,” Pedro Sánchez declared, according to Euronews.

This statement came during a debate devoted to the July 30 migration crisis and the management of relations with Morocco. Pedro Sánchez continued to defend a policy of good neighborly relations with Rabat, while warning that the sovereignty of the two cities constituted an impassable limit.

A few hours later, Nizar Baraka used an almost symmetrical formula.

On Bladi.net : Ceuta and Melilla: Spain toughens its stance and warns Morocco

The Moroccan Minister of Equipment and Water, who is also secretary-general of the Istiqlal party, was speaking at a gathering of his political organization.

“What should we say to our neighbor Spain after what happened in Ceuta? They told us that they considered their national security to have been affected,” he said before party activists.

“Spain is an essential partner, but…”

Nizar Baraka then reaffirmed the importance of cooperation between the two countries, before setting a limit of his own.

“We say this with complete frankness: Spain is an essential partner for us, but we will not retreat by a single inch from our national territory,” he declared, Europa Press reports.

The Spanish expression reported by the agency, “ni un solo palmo,” literally means that Morocco does not intend to yield any part of the territory it considers its own.

The Moroccan official did not mention Ceuta by name in this final sentence, but his entire speech focused on the city’s crisis and Morocco’s territorial claim. Europa Press therefore presents his remarks as a new assertion of Morocco’s claims over Ceuta.

This statement takes on particular significance because of the positions held by Nizar Baraka. However, it was made before the Istiqlal party, which has historically been deeply attached to questions of territorial integrity, and not as part of an official diplomatic statement by the Moroccan government.

Nevertheless, he is the second Moroccan minister to publicly bring the issue back to the table in a matter of weeks.

On Bladi.net : Ceuta and Melilla: Morocco and Spain Tell Different Stories

The Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, had already defended Morocco’s “historical and geographical” rights over Ceuta and Melilla. He had proposed that the future of the two cities be the subject of dialogue with Spain.

Madrid had then categorically refused, asserting that the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla was not negotiable. Nizar Baraka’s statements show that this response has not led Moroccan officials to publicly abandon their claim.

The contrast between the two speeches is now complete. Pedro Sánchez maintains that Ceuta will remain Spanish “until the end of time.” Nizar Baraka responds that Morocco will not retreat “by a single inch” from what it considers its national territory.

The two countries continue, in parallel, to present themselves as essential partners in the economic, security and migration fields. But regarding the status of Ceuta and Melilla, their positions remain irreconcilable.