Mohamed VI wants to seal his reconciliation with Spain and the opening of a "new stage" in bilateral relations at the highest level, with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in person.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has canceled at the last minute the visit that he planned to make this Friday to Morocco, the first by a member of the Spanish Government since the diplomatic crisis between the two countries was triggered 10 months ago.
The argument for canceling his trip is that he will accompany Sánchez himself on the official visit that he will make to Rabat "in the near future", according to the statement from the Moroccan Royal House.
The cancellation of the minister's trip came to light after Sánchez himself spoke by telephone with Mohamed VI, who expressed his "high appreciation" of the content of the letter that the Spanish president addressed to him on March 14.
In the letter, for the first time Spain opted for the Moroccan autonomy plan as the "most serious, realistic and credible" formula to resolve the conflict in the former Spanish colony, with preference over the self-determination referendum.
In the conversation, the Alaouite monarch has invited Sánchez to visit Morocco "in the very next few days", which has triggered the suspension of Albares' trip and has forced him to cancel, already in the early afternoon, a meeting with a Thirty Spanish and Moroccan businessmen and a massive reception at the ambassador's residence, to which 1,700 people had been invited, both events scheduled for this Friday on the occasion of the Foreign Minister's visit to Rabat.
Although the date of the Prime Minister's trip has not yet been announced, the sources consulted suggest that it will most likely be next week.
Ramadan begins this weekend, so Sánchez could attend the
iftar
celebration as a guest of Mohamed VI , the fast-breaking dinner with which he concludes each day during the Muslim holy month.
Sánchez himself, through a tweet, has reported on his conversation with Mohamed VI, with whom he has agreed to launch a "roadmap that consolidates the new stage between two countries", whom he has described as "neighbors" and " strategic partners".
Sánchez added in his tweet that the new relationship will be based "on transparency, mutual respect and compliance with agreements."
I have spoken with His Majesty King Mohamed VI about relations between Spain and Morocco.
We launched a roadmap that consolidates the new stage between two neighboring countries, strategic partners, based on transparency, mutual respect and compliance with agreements.
– Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) March 31, 2022
For its part, the Alaouite Royal House has underlined that the new stage of Spanish-Moroccan relations will be based "on mutual respect, reciprocal trust, permanent consultation and frank and loyal cooperation".
In this context, he adds, "the different ministers and officials of both countries are urged to launch concrete actions within the framework of an ambitious roadmap that addresses all areas of the association and that integrates all issues of common interest" .
Shortly after, the Spanish government published a note in terms very similar to those of the Moroccan one, but it adds something that is not in the Rabat text, and that for Spain is very relevant.
In addition to mutual respect and permanent communication, Spanish includes "compliance with the agreements signed by both parties, as well as refraining from any unilateral action to [...] avoid future crises between the two countries."
Spain condemned the irregular entry of more than 10,000 Moroccans in Ceuta in May of last year and found the solidarity of the European Union.
And he considers that it was a "unilateral action" that cannot be repeated.
Sánchez, according to La Moncloa, has informed Felipe VI of the conversation with the Moroccan king.
political attrition
The Executive is suffering significant political erosion due to the decision to grant the Moroccan proposal that qualification of "more serious", which means setting aside other options and ending the neutrality that Spain maintained.
Nobody in Congress supports him, his partners reject the turn and the opposition too, as was seen this Wednesday in the debate with Sánchez himself.
However, the socialist sector of the Executive and those who have managed this way out of the crisis, especially Sánchez and Albares, are convinced that time will eventually prove them right because, they say, Spain cannot allow itself to be in a serious crisis with a a neighbor as strategic as Morocco, a country that has shown that at any moment it can raise its hand and force an assault on Ceuta or Melilla by thousands of people, as happened last May, in addition to allowing thousands more to leave on a small boat for the Canary Islands.
Sánchez and his team insist that in Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands there is total support for this agreement with Morocco and they believe that little by little in the rest of Spain it will also be assumed that it was the best option.
The great collateral problem that the agreement has created is from Algeria, which has withdrawn its ambassador as a reaction.
However, in the Executive they insist that relations with the Algerians are good and they do not believe that the tension will go beyond this episode, so the supply of gas, the most relevant strategic issue with the other neighbor to the south, is absolutely guaranteed and the idea is that it grows.
Even so, the criticism will continue and in Congress several groups, including United We Can, a coalition partner,
Read the statement from the Cabinet of the King of Morocco
This is the full text of the statement from the Cabinet of the King of Morocco about his conversation with the President of the Government of Spain:
"His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God help him, held a telephone interview today with the President of the Spanish Government, HE Pedro Sánchez.
During this exchange, His Majesty the King reiterated his high appreciation for the content of the message sent to him on March 14 by the President of the Spanish Government.
This letter is in line with the spirit of His Majesty King Mohammed VI's Speech, may God help him, of August 20, 2021 and responds to His Majesty the King's call to "inaugurate a new stage in relations between the two countries”.
Thus, the association between the two countries is already entering a new stage, based on mutual respect, reciprocal trust, permanent consultation and frank and loyal cooperation.
In this context, the different ministers and officials of both countries are called upon to launch concrete actions within the framework of an ambitious roadmap that covers all areas of the association, including all issues of common interest.
His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God help him, addressed, on this occasion, an invitation to the President of the Spanish Government, HE Pedro Sánchez, to make a visit to Morocco in the very next few days”.
