Less than twenty days before the legislative elections in Spain scheduled for July 23, Algeria and Morocco are part of the central themes of the electoral campaign.
Guest of the Telecinco channel, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the Spanish People’s Party, outlined his vision of Spain’s relations with Algeria and Morocco.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo could become the next head of the Spanish government if he wins the election scheduled for 23rd July next.
The elections which were scheduled for the end of 2023 were called by the current head of government Pedro Sánchez the day after his party’s crushing defeat in the local elections last May.
The right, represented by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, won the local elections in what appears to be voters’ disavowal of Pedro Sánchez’s policies.
The predictions give the Spanish People’s Party the winner in the vote on July 23. It is therefore as a favorite that Alberto Núñez Feijóo appears before the press at the start of the Spanish electoral campaign.
On the relationship with Algeria, the leader of the Spanish right highlighted the importance of a return to a ” balanced relationship ” which also concerns the Saharawi people and the United Nations as did the former heads of government in Spain until the break decided by Pedro Sánchez in March 2022, by providing Madrid’s support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
By evoking a return to the Spanish position before the reversal made by Sanchez, this means the restoration of Spain’s historical neutrality on the question of Western Sahara.
Legislative in Spain: Morocco risks losing its ally
When discussing relations with Morocco, the PP leader affirmed his “priority” to have an “excellent relationship with a neighboring country, ally and friend”.
Nevertheless, Núñez Feijóo insisted on qualifying the contours of his vision on the relationship between Spain and Morocco. “ The first message I will send to Morocco is that we are a reliable state party. From there, matters relating to the state will be discussed at the level of the Cortes Generales (Spanish Parliament, editor’s note),” he explains.
The tone is set. Any decision that could imply a change in Spain’s position will not be taken without consulting parliament. Núñez Feijóo wants to mark his difference with the way of doing of Pedro Sánchez who expressed the reversal in the position of Spain by means of a letter addressed to the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI. This letter was revealed by the Moroccan royal cabinet.
For the leader of the People’s Party, Spain’s relations with Morocco cannot be based on the personal relationship of a head of government with the King of Morocco. He talks about the need to have a clear path.
Núñez Feijóo returned to the opacity that surrounded the change of position on Western Sahara decided by Sánchez last year. In Spain, the very existence of the letter which served to express the new Spanish position on this question is called into question.
“We need to know about Sánchez’s pact with Morocco and restore, first, the transparency of the agreements and then have the approval of Congress and the Senate”, details the leader of the right, who says in essence that the Spanish position on Western Sahara will be put on the table of parliament if he were to be promoted to head of government.
In Morocco, the fear of a return to Spain’s neutrality in the Western Sahara is visible. Departures of migrants from the Moroccan coast to Spain have soared again after several months of calm. Morocco is brandishing the migration card to hope to dissuade the future Iberian government from going back on the position expressed by Sánchez last year.
