It is difficult to find an issue on which Vox agrees with Bildu; Sumar, with the PP; or Podemos, with Junts; but the Government has managed to get both its partners and the opposition to agree that it is not credible to think that Morocco is not behind the massive entry of 80,000 irregular immigrants on July 30 and 31, especially after the National Center for Immigration and Borders (CENIF) points out that Moroccan gendarmes and police "guided" the assault in a report about which, be that as it may, the Executive continues to say that attributing responsibility to the African country is a "hoax".
The loneliness of the Government in its position had already been clear in recent weeks, but it became evident last Thursday, during the appearance of Pedro Sánchez in the Congress of Deputies to report on the management of the crisis in Ceuta. The president continued to defend that there is no "solid evidence or evidence" that would allow Morocco to be accused.
The relationship between both countries has suffered severe ups and downs for around four years, when there was another entry of some 12,000 people into Spanish territory through the Tarajal border. This assault was claimed by Rabat, in retaliation for the Government's decision to host the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Gali, in a hospital in Logroño. Months later, the Spanish Executive took a historic turn in the country's foreign policy by announcing that it supports the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara becoming an autonomous region within Morocco, the position defended by Rabat.
The Alawite regime is not just any partner for Spain: its control over migratory flows, anti-terrorist cooperation and the stability of the borders of Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands gives it a great capacity for influence. Some political groups also add suspicions about the personal information that Mohamed VI could have about Pedro Sánchez so that the President of the Government moves in a complex dichotomy in their relationship.
Of course, in view of the latest revelations and the fact that he is increasingly cornered by the entire Parliament, his words showed a little more severity towards our Mediterranean neighbor than that shown in recent days. Sánchez pointed out that although Spain must "continue cooperating with Morocco" and maintain a "good neighborly relationship", that collaboration "must be different." And he warned that "if such solid evidence existed" against the Alawite regime, the Government "would act with total transparency and forcefulness."
He does not specify what this forcefulness would translate into, but the situation places the president before a delicate exercise of balance: any gesture aimed at pleasing Morocco can fuel criticism from his partners, while a hardening of the Spanish position runs the risk of straining a strategic relationship. Sánchez is at a crossroads from which it is difficult to get out. On the one hand, it needs to preserve fluid harmony with Rabat to guarantee stability on the southern border as well as security and the southern border. But, on the other hand, it must maintain the stability of its parliamentary majority at a time when several of its partners openly question some of the concessions made to the Alawite kingdom, especially the issue of Western Sahara.
The opening that Sánchez made to the possibility that Morocco is behind remains unconvincing. After his appearance, sources from Sumar, an executive partner of the PSOE, assure that the president has not given "the explanations or solutions that the situation in Ceuta requires" and they once again demand a "much firmer" position with respect to the neighboring country. In the socialist part of the Government they downplay the criticism of their partners. They describe them as "differences" that they respect and point out that this elevation of tone is normal given the situation: "We are in the process of pre-electoral campaigning," they say in Moncloa, in view of the holding of elections, in principle, in 2027.
These criticisms or differences manifested themselves from all directions. In ERC, its spokesperson, Gabriel Rufián, assured that Morocco has committed an "attack" against Spain using people as "cannon fodder", with the collaboration of the US and Israel, and called the Government "pusillanimous". For the Republican, the fact that he continues to exonerate the Alawite regime has two explanations: one, for him "conspiratorial", which would be related to Morocco having some compromising information; and another, that "a war that they cannot win" had been put on the table.
Although it lowered its tone a little compared to other weeks (Jon Iñarritu went so far as to say that the Executive is a "pagafantas" of Morocco), Bildu, which is not used to being scathing with Moncloa, assured in the words of Mertxe Aizpurua that "it is not acceptable" that "Morocco is exonerated and its regime is called a 'reliable partner'." The Abertzale shared the "prudence" that Sánchez claims to not open "a diplomatic conflict of the first order", but rejected that Moncloa's response had been "sincere and credible."
For her part, Miriam Nogueras, from Junts, asked Sánchez to take "a step aside" because he is not "qualified" to continue being president of the Government; and Maribel Vaquero, from the PNV, criticized that he was "absent almost four weeks [in La Mareta]" and appeared in Congress now with "a self-complacent story" and without pointing out Morocco. Likewise, Podemos, the toughest of the partners, directly asked to "break diplomatic and commercial relations with Morocco" and its secretary general, Ione Belarra, asked the president "why he protects" the African country.
And if these are the positions of the partners, that of the main opposition party will not be different, which over the last month has lavished criticism on Sánchez in particular and the Government in general. Firstly, due to the lack of management and, secondly, due to an attitude that they consider "pusillanimous" towards the kingdom of Morocco.
This Thursday, Alberto Núñez Feijóo did not take long to bring espionage with Pegasus to the fore to sow doubt about the change in foreign policy with Morocco. "What document, conversation or indication was on your phone for you to behave this way? Why are you so afraid of Morocco? What does Morocco know about you?" the popular leader launched to promise that if he reaches Moncloa he will release all the information about the case.
Feijóo did it for the first time since the massive entry took place, but other voices from the party such as Alma Ezcurra or Ester Muñoz have already stated that the policy of appeasement with the neighboring country has to do with the 'hacking' suffered by the devices of some members of the Government and the president himself. This Friday, Muñoz once again requested the declassification of the reports on the case because, as he insisted, "there is something" in them that explains Sánchez's position on Morocco.
To try to appease the blows that came at him from one side and the other, Sánchez surprisingly announced that the Executive summoned the Moroccan ambassador to Spain on August 21 due to "unacceptable" statements by two ministers from his country about Ceuta and Melilla. A call that was not publicly communicated at the time and that served the PP to reinforce the thesis of the President of the Government's laxity with the Alawite kingdom.
In Genoa they consider that summoning an ambassador is a political message, since it is in itself a tool of protest and diplomatic pressure. On the other hand, having hidden it represents for the popular ones another example of Sánchez's "weakness" towards Morocco: "You have given up playing politics and publicly defending your position," they insist.
The PP believes that the announcement by the President of the Government, far from calming partners and the opposition, "has generated more questions" and "has consolidated the message that he is afraid of Morocco" to the point that they called the representative of Rabat and did not make it public "because it could make the neighboring country feel bad." During the month of August, the popular people questioned the fact that this movement did not take place after the Moroccan Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Uahbi, once again raised Morocco's claim on the sovereignty of the two autonomous Spanish cities.
In Genoa they compare the lack of reaction with the position adopted in other diplomatic conflicts, such as the one that occurred on July 30 with Italy. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, summoned – and did announce it on his
Political formations are aware that relations with the neighboring country are a good tool to wear down Sánchez and, likewise, to mobilize the electorate in a pre-electoral political course. In fact, in the case of the popular parties, the hardening of the discourse with Morocco has been evident. At the beginning of the crisis they avoided focusing their criticism on the Alawite kingdom to focus essentially on Pedro Sánchez. Feijóo demanded "reciprocity, transparency and good faith" in relations.
