Morocco Has Sovereignty Over Ceuta And Melilla, Not Over Western Sahara

While the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, drank a toast with senior officials of the Moroccan Makhzen regime in Rabat, fears were running high in Madrid about the repercussions of this visit on Spain’s supreme interests in Algeria and the dangers it posed for the future of relations with the only regional power in the north of Africa.
Among the statements made by Spanish politicians in this regard is that of Alberto Núñez Viejo, leader of the Popular Party, the main opposition political force in Spain, who warned the Spanish people of the dangers of the policy of the Pedro Sanchez government for the interests of his country with Algeria.
In press statements reported by the Spanish agency “Europa Press”, Nunez criticized Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s policy towards Algeria, which he said was “incapable” of recognizing its benefits for Spain. He explained that it has been “marked by turmoil due to Madrid’s unacceptable position on the Western Sahara”, which has led to the severing of friendly relations with Algeria and the almost complete cessation of economic exchanges between the two countries.
The leader of Spain’s Popular Party attacked his country’s government for its “inability to maintain the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with Algeria, precisely because of its change of position on Western Sahara, and even the Socialist Party led by Sanchez voted in the European Parliament against freedom of expression in Morocco,” Viejo told Sanchez: “History will judge you.”
Sanchez’s visit to Rabat is also seen by Spaniards as a sign of new difficulties for the “Naturgy” company, which began negotiations with its counterpart Sonatrach this year after the Algerian party decided to negotiate gas prices annually instead of every three years, exacerbating the crisis between Algeria and Madrid.
These concerns were expressed in an article by the Spanish electronic newspaper Footpopele, under the title “Naturgy negotiates new gas prices with Algeria on the elites of Sanchez in Morocco”, in which it exposed the challenges faced by the Spanish company “Naturgy” in controlling gas prices with its Algerian counterpart, Sonatrach, at acceptable levels that protect the capabilities of the Spanish people.
The newspaper wrote: “Naturgy had to tire in 2022 to close the price of gas supplies with Sonatrach. … The gas company led by Francisco Renis is now facing new negotiations with its Algerian partner to close the supply prices in 2023 and 2024. Difficult negotiations again due to the state of tension on the market”. The rapprochement of Italy and France with Algeria, the increase in China’s gas needs and the Spanish government’s proximity to Morocco.
It added: “The recent trip by Pedro Sanchez and a large entourage of Spanish ministers gives the Algerians more arguments to tire their Spanish partner in the new negotiations. The new ‘great friendship’ between Madrid and Rabat poses a ‘big problem’ for the Naturgy-Sonatrach agreement, according to activists in the sector. “. This comes from the Spanish side. And what about the Moroccan side? What a disgrace!
Before Sanchez’s visit, the mouthpieces of the Makhzen regime told the defeated Moroccan people that this visit would be an occasion to demand that the Spanish government grant Rabat “partial sovereignty” rather than total sovereignty over the airspace of the occupied Western Sahara. Why? Because the Makhzen, who never stops repeating the phrase “Western Sahara is part of the Makhzen Kingdom”, still does not have sovereignty over the skies of Western Sahara. It is still demanding licenses from Spain to fly its civil and military aircraft over the region. This is the truth that the Makhzen shamelessly hides from its citizens.
What was Sanchez’s response to Rabat’s request? The answer: “Nyet”, as they say in Russian, which means no. What is more, the Spaniards have exposed the lies of the Moroccan regime from its capital, by defining the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla as two Spanish customs gates, which of the two cities begins the Spanish land borders, without the slightest regard for the feelings of Moroccan officials, as did the High Official for Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, Josep Borell, when he addressed the Moroccan Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita, in Rabat, saying “The tolerance of the Zéro does not tolerate the scandal of bribing European deputies”, while hoping for his mediation with Brussels.