The crisis between Algeria and Spain, opened after Spain’s support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara, is far from over. Algeria no longer intends to maintain relations with the Executive of Pedro Sanchez and prefers to wait for a change of government in Spain.
The Spanish government wants to demand that Morocco respect the agreement reached on April 7 in Rabat, at the end of the meeting between Pedro Sanchez and King Mohammed VI. It threatens to go back on its decision on the Sahara to end tensions with Algeria.
Spain’s foreign policy in North Africa is not conducted solely in Madrid. It is strongly influenced by the United States. This is evidenced by the role played by Washington in Spain’s change of position on the Sahara.
The Polisario Front’s delegate in Spain, Abdullah Arabi, welcomed Algeria’s suspension of the 2002 friendship and cooperation treaty with Spain. Another decision by Algeria aimed at "punishing" Spain after its change of position on the Sahara.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, declared on Wednesday before Congress that "the Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla is beyond doubt". He says he has discussed this with King Mohammed VI.
Swept away last July by the Ghali affair which provoked a serious diplomatic crisis with Morocco, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha Gonzales Laya, mentions "telephone tappings, complaints, campaigns, including press campaigns" which have "served to blur this humanitarian aid" provided to the Polisario leader, Brahim Ghali.
Podemos again expressed on Monday the "significant disagreement" it has with the Socialist Party (PSOE), its partner in the governing coalition, on the Sahara issue.
The Spanish Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, asked the press on Monday to avoid making "inappropriate" speculations about the spying of Pedro Sanchez’s phones and the migration crisis of May 2021 in Ceuta, stating that Morocco is a "strategic" and loyal partner of Spain.
The National Intelligence Center (CNI) informed the Spanish government that the irregular entry of thousands of migrants in Ceuta in May 2021 was part of Morocco’s strategy to pressure Spain to change its position on the Sahara.
The President of the Popular Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, met with the Moroccan Prime Minister, Aziz Akhannouch, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on the sidelines of the Congress of the European People’s Party. The Spanish leader assured the Moroccan official that he will reverse Pedro Sanchez’s decision on the Sahara if he succeeds him.
The leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, stated that Spain will end up paying dearly for its change of position on the Sahara, hoping that the leader of the Popular Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will correct the situation if he accesses the Moncloa in 2023.
The representative of the Polisario Front in Spain, Abaulah Arabi, has asked the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, to "rectify" Spain’s position on the Sahara and to "clarify" the notion of Morocco’s territorial integrity mentioned in his letter to Mohammed VI dated March 14.