Ruling Party Leaders Ask Albares to Rectify His Position on Western Sahara

The remarks made by Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares last weekend regarding Western Sahara did not pass without repercussions for the ruling Socialist Party, to which Albares belongs.

Party leaders considered his remarks a deviation from the outcomes of the last congress held in December 2024.

Officials and activists from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s party signed a statement, considering the remarks made by the Spanish Foreign Minister and his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, “inconsistent with the historical position of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, which affirmed in its parliamentary resolutions and electoral program its commitment to international legitimacy, respect for the standards that constitute international law, and the right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination.”

The statement, published by the Spanish newspaper El Independiente on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, emphasized that “the decisions of the 41st Congress of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, approved on December 1, 2024, affirm the party’s commitment to supporting the UN Secretary-General Personal Envoy Staffan de Mistura to reach a mutually acceptable solution within the framework of UN resolutions on Western Sahara.”

Madrid’s Foreign Minister and his Moroccan counterpart renewed their support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara last Thursday. This prompted Socialist Party leaders to accuse their government representative (Albares) of “violating what was agreed upon at the party’s last federal conference in Seville at the end of last year,” citing “successive United Nations resolutions, which affirm that any solution to the conflict must be mutually acceptable and guarantee the exercise of the Sahrawi people’s inalienable right to self-determination.”

Since the letter attributed to the Spanish Prime Minister, which was revealed by the Moroccan regime in April 2022, supporting the autonomy plan, no Spanish official has stated their position on the matter, until last weekend, during a meeting between the Spanish Foreign Minister and his Moroccan counterpart, which witnessed Bourita’s provocation of Algeria from Spanish territory, a development that could affect the fragile reconciliation between Algeria and Madrid.

Those protesting Albares’ position said they were “concerned about Albares’s support for Morocco’s unilateral autonomy proposal, which consists of three pages and has not been developed 18 years after its submission.”

The statement added: “We would like to express our deep concern regarding the statements made by Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares during a meeting with his Moroccan counterpart on April 17, in which he affirmed his assessment of the Kingdom of Morocco’s autonomy proposal as “the most serious, credible, and realistic basis” for resolving the conflict in Western Sahara.

For the first time, a protest against the Spanish government’s decision on its position on Western Sahara has come from within the ruling party. Criticisms of Madrid’s shift in position have been limited to opposition parties, led by the right-wing Popular Party, which holds a majority in parliament. This is explained by the commitment made at the party’s last congress five months ago, which emphasised the official position’s support for “UN efforts.” Meanwhile, José Manuel Albares’s recent statement constitutes a departure from this commitment.

Critics assert that “the settlement plan for Western Sahara, governed by UN Security Council Resolution 690 of April 29, 1991, included a referendum through which the Sahrawi people would exercise their right to self-determination and determine their future through a fair, free, and impartial referendum. This led to the establishment of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which has been renewed, although it has been unable to fulfil its mission due to the blockade imposed and maintained by Morocco.”

Critics of Albares’ statements argue that “adopting a unilateral proposal, such as the autonomy proposal presented by Morocco, without the consent of the Sahrawi people, would mean ignoring the task of a mutually acceptable solution and breaking with international law.” This constitutes a “flagrant violation of international law,” which must be rectified as soon as possible, according to the statement’s signatories.