The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, and his Moroccan counterpart, Aziz Ajanuch, have promised this Thursday to maintain "mutual respect" and avoid what "offends" them, especially as it affects their "spheres of sovereignty". . This institutional declaration includes an implicit allusion both to Ceuta and Melilla, which have never been recognized by Morocco as autonomous cities, and to Western Sahara, on which Spain has changed its traditional neutrality to defend that it be a province under the tutelage of Rabat, historical points of friction between both nations.
Within the framework of a new High Level Meeting (RAN) that had not been held for eight years, both leaders have also agreed to maintain relations based on "transparency" and "permanent communication." "We will always resort to dialogue and not fait accompli," Sánchez stressed, referring to crises such as the passivity of the neighboring country's police to control illegal immigration.
The celebration of this summit takes place after the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, dispatched the diplomatic courtesy with the Spanish president by means of a call from Gabon, some 4,000 kilometers from Rabat. In La Moncloa they have downplayed this rudeness, pointing out that the monarch and the president had spoken on the phone for half an hour, "the usual duration of an audience in person."
Beyond the protocol issues, among the specific issues that have been addressed this Thursday is the guarantee by both countries that the commercial customs of Ceuta and Melilla will continue to open "in an orderly and progressive manner" after the "success" of the pilot test last week "until the full normalization of the passage of people and goods is reached". As for the territorial future of the Sahara, Madrid's position "has not changed" after the 180-degree turn 10 months ago, but it has not been revealed if there has been progress towards its definition as an autonomous province.
Spain and Morocco have also pledged to maintain "a strengthened political and security dialogue"; to an "advanced economic association" that allows the development of new investment projects; to strengthen their social and cultural ties; and to work with "a comprehensive and constructive approach to migration".
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