Spanish Government Stirs Controversy by Violating the ECJ Ruling

In a move likely to spark controversy, the Spanish public body “ENAIRE”, which is responsible for managing air navigation in Spain and Western Sahara and operates under the supervision of the International Civil Aviation Organization, has authorized the Irish airline “Ryanair” to operate flights between Spain and the occupied Sahrawi city of Dakhla, which is considered a violation of the ruling of the European Court of Justice issued on October 4, 2024.

Salim Djellab, a French politician active in the Socialist Party, revealed that legal proceedings have been initiated against the Spanish air navigation management company “ENAIRE.” The company is accused of violating the European Court of Justice’s decision last month that the Moroccan regime has no sovereignty over the occupied Sahrawi territories.

The French politician wrote on his account on “X” that: “Western Sahara is neither Moroccan nor Spanish, but the “ENAIRE” institution, a Spanish public body responsible for managing air navigation in Western Sahara, operates under the supervision of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The opening of the Spain-Dakhla line granted to the airline “Ryanair” violates the European Court of Justice’s decision on October 4. Legal proceedings will be launched!”.

The management of the airspace of Western Sahara has been under the guardianship of the Spanish authorities since the end of the Spanish occupation of Western Sahara in 1975, according to the United Nations resolutions, which consider Spain the colonial power responsible for the management of the non-self-governing territory (Western Sahara), which places the responsibility on the Spanish government.

Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline headquartered in Dublin, founded in 1985. It is the largest airline in Ireland, the largest low-cost airline in Europe and the most profitable in the world thanks to cost reductions. It currently has more than 2,000 routes and 84 bases.

The French political activist’s tweet caused a stir among the arms of the Moroccan regime, who attacked Salim Djellab via the “X” platform, including the former Moroccan minister, member of the Senate (Parliament), and head of the joint parliamentary committee between the European Union and Morocco, Lahcen Haddad, who claimed that those who oppose the Moroccan regime in Western Sahara want to “keep the region poor, landlocked, marginalized and underdeveloped.”

The French political activist responded to him with a tweet in which he described him as a “good Moroccan settler”. Salim Djellab wrote in response to the Moroccan minister: “As a good Moroccan settler, he gives the same speech as Marshal Lyautey, the founder of modern Morocco during the French protectorate and the terrorist Secret Army Organization (OAS) during the colonization of Algeria. Justifying the unjustifiable, pretending that oppression is a blessing, and distorting the reality of peoples’ rights: the old refrain of the colonizers. The Sahrawis deserve freedom, not the plundering of their lands and the denial of their existence”.

In response to a Moroccan journalist’s questioning of the Spanish airline’s continued management of Western Sahara’s airspace, the French political activist posted: “A course for the idiot… Airspace management is divided into what are called FIR zones, an acronym for Flight Information Region. In Spain, there are three FIRs: Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, and each of them is managed by the Spanish operator”, which is the public institution “Enaire”.

Salim Djellab explained this point; “Currently, the management of the airspace of Western Sahara is carried out from the Canary Islands Control Centers Division, as can be verified through the “Enaire” Network and the ICAO Aeronautical Management Map. In other words, the airspace of Western Sahara depends on the Canary Islands FIR, controlled by the Spanish manager Enaire”, he added, considering the Moroccan journalist’s disregard for this information either “blatant ignorance or deliberate misinformation.”