Madrid reiterates sovereign decision to back Rabat’s autonomy plan for Sahara

LONDON - Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Monday he was not going to fuel sterile controversies with Algeria two days after Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune denounced Madrid’s reversal in favour of Morocco’s autonomy plan of Western Sahara.

"I am not going to fuel sterile controversies, but Spain has taken a sovereign decision within the framework of international law and there is nothing else to add," Albares said on the radio on Monday.

Tebboune on Saturday described as "morally and historically unacceptable" Spain’s reversal in favour of Morocco’s autonomy plan.

"We have very strong ties with the Spain, but the head of government (Pedro Sanchez) broke everything," said Tebboune.

The top Spanish diplomat’s statement once again consolidated Spain’s backing of Morocco’s plan almost three weeks after Spanish Prime Minister’s landmark visit to Rabat.

In a letter sent to King Mohammed VI last March, Sanchez backed Morocco’s plan to give more autonomy to Western Sahara as long as it remains unquestionably under Moroccan grip.

The Spanish leader called Rabat’s proposal “the most serious, realistic and credible” initiative for resolving the decades-long dispute over the vast territory.

Morocco has grown in strategic importance to Spain over the past decade. Rabat is considered critical both in the fight against radical jihadist groups as well as in holding back increasing numbers of African migrants who want to reach Europe as they flee violence and poverty.

Relations between the two countries separated by the Strait of Gibraltar were severely frayed last April. Morocco was angered by Spain allowing the leader of the separatist movement for Western Sahara to receive medical treatment for COVID-19 at a Spanish hospital on request by Morocco's neighbour Algeria, an ally of the Polisario Front.

Morocco responded by loosening its border controls around Spain’s North Africa enclave of Ceuta, provoking the unauthorized crossing of thousands of young Moroccans and migrants from other African countries.

The mood did not improve until last month, when Sanchez took the surprising decision to alter Spain’s long-standing position on Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony.