Spain: Sánchez's first visit to Ceuta since reconciliation with Morocco

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez traveled to Ceuta on Wednesday, his first visit to this Spanish enclave in Moroccan territory since the summit in early February that sealed Madrid's reconciliation with Rabat.

"

" for the Spanish Prime Minister to visit Ceuta, said Pedro Sánchez during the inauguration of the Tarajal health center, the official reason for his visit to this city, one of the two Spanish enclaves on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco.

He recalled that it was the third time he had come to Ceuta as head of government, his last visit being a year ago.

The climate is improving

"

", he welcomed, recalling

" of the government with "

".

At the February 2 summit in Rabat, Morocco and Spain pledged to avoid "

", in the words spoken that day by Pedro Sanchez.

These words were interpreted as an allusion to the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, of which Morocco claims sovereignty.

For its part, Rabat does not tolerate anyone contesting the “

” of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony also claimed by the separatists of the Polisario Front.

Visits by Spanish leaders to Ceuta and Melilla have often been seen as an offense in the past by Rabat, which went so far as to recall its ambassador to Madrid in 2007 after the King of Spain visited the two cities.

But the climate between the two countries has greatly improved since Pedro Sánchez, a socialist, ended a year of diplomatic estrangement with Morocco in March 2022 by agreeing to side with Morocco's position on Western Sahara.

The crisis erupted in April 2021, after the hospitalization in Spain of the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, sworn enemy of Morocco.