Morocco and Spain maintain extensive diplomatic, commercial, and military ties.[1] TheMorocco–Spain border separates theplazas de soberanía (includingMelilla andCeuta) on the Mediterranean coast from the Moroccan mainland. Morocco's foreign policy has focused on Western partners, including neighboring Spain.[2] Relations have, however, been historically tense and conflictive.[3][4]
Taking advantage of the disputes related to the struggle for control in theVisigothic Kingdom of Hispania, theUmayyad Caliphate army led byTáriq ibn Ziyad crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in 711. This gave way to theIslamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.[5] In the years to come, the Christian rulers fought or established political or commercial relations with the Muslim rulers, gaining control over the Iberian peninsula.
Detail of theCantiga de Santa Maria No. 181. It depicts a "miracle" during the successful 1261–62 defence of Marrakesh by Almohad rulerAl-Murtada (with help from Christian militias from the Iberian Peninsula depicted in the illustration) from the siege laid on by Marinid rulerAbu Yusuf.[9]
The last of the Muslim territories in the Iberian peninsula was the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, which surrendered to theCatholic Monarchs in 1492 after theGranada War.[12] Spanish jews wereexpelled, and many settled on theBarbary Coast.
In 1612, Spanish privateers stole theZaydani Library, a collection of an estimated 4,000 manuscripts in literature and science belonging to SultanZidan bin Ahmad of theSaadi dynasty.[18] These manuscripts are still kept atEl Escorial.
Also, Spain occupiedTétouan from 1859 to 1862 according to theTreaty of Wad Ras (1860), afterAbd al-Rahman found himself unable to control the moroccantribes which raided Ceuta´shinterland. As a result, Melilla´s perimeter was also broadened and the sultan recognized the Spanish right to establish a fishing port in Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña (a territory of uncertain location by that time) identified then whereSidi Ifni now stands. In the 1860battle of Tetuan, theMellah, or Jewish quarter, of Tetuan was sacked.[22] This was followed by appeals in the European Jewish press to support Jewish communities like the one in Tetuan, leading to an international effort calledThe Morocco Relief Fund, in English.[23][n. 1][26][27] After Morocco paid thewar reparations (partially through money lent by the British), in 1862 the spanish generalLeopoldo O'Donnell retired his troops from Tétouan.[28][29]
After 1863, a Spanish diplomatic mission led byFrancisco Merry y Colom was sent to the court of the Moroccan Sultan in Marrakesh,[30]: 255 with the specific goals of the rehabilitation of Muley El-Abbás, the sultan's hispanophile brother, the fostering of commercial activity in Ceuta and Melilla by means of the creation of a custom, the opening of the Port ofAgadir to Spanish ships, facilitating the meat provision to Ceuta, and the improvement on the status of Spaniards in Morocco,[31]: 255, 313 establishing the basis for thepeacetime commercial and diplomatic relations of Spain with the Sherifian Empire.[32]: 335
In the wake of the visit of a Spanish delegation to Fez in 1877, a joint Hispano-Moroccan committee was created to determine the location of the territory of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña,[33] retroceded in the 1860 Treaty of Wad Ras. This committee eventually misidentified Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña withIfni,[33] actually located about 480 kilometers (298 mi) north of the real fortress. The Moroccan sultan accepted the identification in 1883, even if the border delimitation did not take place at the time and the effective Spanish occupation had to wait until 1934.[33]
In 1905, a group of SephardicJews of Fes sent a letter in vernacularMoroccan Arabic (Darija) written inHebrew letters toAlfonso XIII, King of Spain, asking him to establish a Spanish school in themellah of Fes and to protect their community, which they described as descendants of Spain and therefore his subjects.[34]
On 6 July 2002 Spanish military operations in theAlhucemas Islands were perceived to be an act of aggression by Morocco.[38] On 11 July 2002, thePerejil Island crisis erupted; members of theRoyal Moroccan Navy occupied the uninhabitedPerejil Island off the North-African coast; 6 days later Spain launched the "Operation Romeo-Sierra" and 28 members of theSpecial Operations Groups of theSpanish Army took control of the islet evicting the 6 Moroccan cadets then present in the islet, who offered no resistance.[39] On 31 July-1 August 2018 Morocco indefinitely closed the Beni Ansar Customs near Melilla aiming to suffocate trade in the Spanish city.[40]
On 21 December 2020, following the affirmations of the Moroccan Prime Minister,Saadeddine Othmani, stating that Ceuta and Melilla "are as Moroccan as the [Western]Sahara" Spain's Secretary of State for Foreign AffairsCristina Gallach urgently summoned the Moroccan Ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, to convey that Spain expects respect from all its partners to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its country and asked for explanations about the words of Othmani.[41][42]
The two neighbours also have an unresolved dispute concerning territorial waters between Morocco and the SpanishCanary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.[citation needed]
On 22 April 2021, Spanish officials had announced that the Polisario Front leaderBrahim Ghali was sent to Spain forCOVID-19 hospitalization.[45] Morocco reacted with several reciprocal and retaliatory measures, including granting the pro-Catalan independence politicianCarles Puigdemont asylum on 30 April.[46]
On 14 March 2022, Sánchez sent a letter to KingMohammed VI backing Morocco'sWestern Sahara Autonomy Proposal. This was a change in the official position aboutself-determination as the solution to theWestern Sahara conflict. His decision was criticized by Unidas Podemos and the Spanish opposition. Sánchez visited Morocco in April 2022 and participated in aniftar with Mohammed VI and members of his entourage.[47][48]
Morocco has received €343 million since 2018 to help it counter illegal migration.[49]
On 17 May 2021, approximately 8,000 migrantscrossed the Moroccan–Spanish border into Ceuta and Melilla passing around thejetties of Benzú and El Tarajal, after Moroccan security forces lessened control mechanisms following the hospitalization of Brahim Ghali in Spain.[50][51][52][53][n. 2][n. 3] The Spanish military was deployed at the border to stop the influx. Morocco's actions were rejected by various officials of the European Union.[n. 4] In a cryptic manner, the Moroccan ambassador warned that "there are acts that have consequences and must be assumed", just before being recalled by theMinistry of Foreign Affairs on 18 June, in turn shortly after she was summoned by the Spanish foreign minister.[61]
European Commission Vice PresidentMargaritis Schinas warned that Europe would not "be intimidated by anyone on the subject of migration".[62] The Moroccan move was described as an instance ofcoercive engineered migration[63] and a case ofgrey zone operation, similarly to other asymmetrical challenges posed by Morocco underpinned by incremental and ambiguous measures below the threshold of war.[64][65]
On 22 June 2023,Human Rights Watch accused authorities at the Melilla border of "exonerat[ing] their security forces" during the2022 Melilla incident.[66] Both countries were reported to have further agreed to cooperate on repatriations of illegal migrants.[67]
As of April 2024, the Spanish government was conducting preparations to transfer the management of airspace to Morocco, after decades of it being managed by a state-owned company organized under the Spanish Ministry of Transport and operating from the air traffic control center in theCanary Islands.[68]
In the past, the failure to reach a deal for fisheries between the European Union and Morocco in 2001 complicated the relations betweenJosé María Aznar and Mohammed VI.[38]
Morocco'sTanger Med port will pose competition that concerns Spanish ports. It was expected to achieve full capacity in 2014 at 5.5 million containers annually.[69]
At a February 2023 summit inRabat attended by Pedro Sánchez andAziz Akhannouch, Spain and Morocco subsequently signed a series of multiple agreements to boost trade and investment, including credit lines of up to 800 million euros ($873 million).[citation needed]
Counterterrorrism and counternarcotics cooperation
According to the 2021 INE statistics, Moroccans are the largest immigration community in Spain with 930,221 citizens residing in the country. Moroccans in Spain live mainly inBarcelona,Madrid andMurcia.[70]
^Addressing the leader of the parliamentary opposition, Sánchez stated that "Spain is suffering a challenge from Morocco", wondering where the opposition stood at.[54]
^Minor member of the coalition government, Unidas Podemos, accused Morocco of "diplomatic blackmail".
^such as thePrime Minister of Slovenia, who tweeted (in Spanish) "The Spanish border of #Ceuta is a European border. Full solidarity with Spain.",[55] thePresident of the European CommissionUrsula von der Leyen, who said that "Europe expresses its solidarity with Ceuta and Spain. We need common European solutions to manage migration. We can do this by reaching an agreement on the new Migration Pact.",[56] theHigh Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security PolicyJosep Borrell "Ceuta is the European border with Morocco, and the EU will do what is necessary to support Spain in these difficult times.",[57] thePresident of the European CouncilCharles Michel, who tweeted "All our support and solidarity with Spain @sanchezcastejon. The borders of Spain are the borders of the European Union. Cooperation, trust and shared commitments should be the principles of a strong relationship between the European Union and Morocco."[58] and the European Commissioner of MigrationsMargaritis Schinas, claiming that "The Spanish border of #Ceuta is a European border. Full solidarity with Spain. We now need the European Migration Policy Pact: agreements with third countries; a robust protection of our borders; solidarity between the Member States, and a policy of legal migration."[59][60]
^Gottreich, Emily (26 August 2021).Jewish Morocco : a history from pre-Islamic to postcolonial times. Bloomsbury Academic.ISBN978-0-7556-4436-0.OCLC1259534890.
^López Alvarez, Ana María (2003).La comunidad judía de Tetuán, 1881-1940 : onomástica y sociología en el libro de registro de circuncisiones del rabino Yiṣḥaq Bar Vid Al Haṣerfaty [The Jewish community of Tetouan, 1881-1940: onomastics and sociology in Rabbi Yiṣḥaq Bar Vid Al Haṣerfaty's record book on circumcisions]. Toledo, Spain: Museo Sefardi. p. 80.ISBN978-8436936803.OCLC55502651.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
