Days later, Spain made a remarkable change in its policy regarding the disputed territory, recognizing Morocco’s proposal to make it a semi-autonomous region within the Moroccan kingdom as the “most realistic and credible” solution to the historical dispute.
There have been numerous incidents of this type on the border of Melilla and Ceuta, Spanish autonomous cities bordering Morocco. One day in May 2021, some 8,000 people, including migrants and Moroccan citizens, took advantage of the absence of Moroccan security forces to enter Ceuta in the midst of a diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rabat.
Sanchez, who visited Morocco’s King Mohammed VI in April, said it was important to recognize that “Morocco also suffers from migratory pressure, especially from the unstable region of the Sahel.”
“We reject any violent attack on the Melilla fence, as we have seen today, by mafias trafficking in human beings,” Sanchez added.
As the host of next week’s NATO summit, the Spanish government has said it wants the alliance to address security threats from North Africa and the Sahel.
José Manuel Albares, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, cited this week “the use of illegal immigration as a weapon and energy blackmail,” as well as jihadist terrorism in the Sahel as some of the threats facing ‘faces Europe from its southern flank.
Algeria, which supports the strength of the Polisario Front fighting against Morocco for an independent Western Sahara, reacted to Madrid’s new position on the territorial conflict by breaking economic relations with Spain, although it has stopped before cut off the natural gas supply through a gas pipeline that connects the two countries.