Moroccan Sahara: Spain Reiterates Position Considering Autonomy Plan as ‘Most Serious, Realistic, Credible Basis for Dispute Resolution’

Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union, and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, reiterated, on Thursday in Rabat, his country’s position regarding the Moroccan Sahara issue.

“The position of Spain regarding the issue of the Sahara has not changed. It is the same as already expressed in the Joint Declaration adopted on April 7, 2022, and the Declaration concluding the 12th Morocco-Spain High-Level Meeting (HLM) in February 2023,” said Spain’s top diplomat during the joint press briefing held after his discussions with Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita.

It is worth recalling that the Joint Declaration, adopted on April 7, 2022, during the meeting between HM King Mohammed VI and the Spanish Government President Pedro Sánchez, states that “Spain considers the Moroccan autonomy initiative, presented in 2007, as the most serious, realistic, and credible basis for the resolution of this dispute.”

Madrid acknowledges the importance of the Sahara issue for Morocco, as well as the serious and credible efforts of Morocco within the framework of the United Nations to find a mutually acceptable solution, it was specified.

MAP: 14 December 2023