Relationship Spain and Morocco | Foreign Affairs blesses the creation of a “Morocco Chair” in Spain as a result of the roadmap

2023-07-06 19:52:08

The rapprochement of Spain with Morocco undertaken by the Government of Pedro Sánchez has borne some fruits, such as a reduction in the number of migrants coming from the routes that depart from the Maghreb country. There are other substantial aspects established in the roadmap agreed between both governments that remain aground, such as the opening of customs in Ceuta and Melillaor the delimitation of the waters between the Canary Islands and Morocco.

It is in this context that the “first chair of Morocco” in Spain, at the University of Salamanca, as defined by diplomatic and university representatives in a presentation ceremony this Wednesday at the Casa Árabe in Madrid. It will be directed by Rachid El Hour, Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies, and will promote research, seminars and exchanges.

The delegations of the two countries have taken advantage of the meeting to publicly praise the new stage of harmony that Pedro Sánchez began with a letter to the Moroccan King Mohamed VI in which he supported his autonomy plan for Western Sahara within the kingdom. The “chair”, they say, is a concrete and clear result of the educational agreement that emerged from the High Level Meeting (RAN) held on February 1 and 2 in Rabat, according to diplomatic sources from both countries.

“Many insist on building walls of incomprehension”said the Moroccan ambassador in Spain, Karima Benyaich, who has defended the training of young people to bring them down. “We have inaugurated a new stage with the RAN […] with deep strategic and multidimensional relations between both countries”. “Spain and Morocco are on the right path”, the Spanish diplomat replied Alberto Ucelay, Director General for the Maghreb, Mediterranean and Near East of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both countries have “a common border”, but also “a common vision”, “common millennial roots” and “interests that push both countries” to understand each other, added the Maghreb expert.

The tone of the presentation contrasts with the diplomatic clash that took place in 2021. In May of that year, Rabat called Karima Benyaich for consultations and left the post of ambassador in Madrid empty. She was protesting the decision of the Spanish government to provide medical attention to the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, then sick with covid. Ghali is the president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in exile in the refugee camps of Algeria, and is at war with Morocco over the territory of Western Saharawhich Spain delivered in the Madrid Agreements in 1975.

Improvements in student visas

Spain and Morocco signed a series of agreements in February of this year (memorandums of understanding, in diplomatic jargon) in areas such as security, trade, migration, science or education. Details of the memoranda have not been made public, despite opposition requests to the government. Specific, a Memorandum of Understanding on university cooperation was sealed, in which this new “Morocco chair” of the University of Salamanca is framed.

In the joint declaration, Morocco and Spain also agreed to “strengthen their collaboration to promote student mobility.” The Spanish side promised to study measures to simplify administrative procedures for Moroccan students to come to Spain. Rabat complains about the difficulties that its young people have in obtaining visas that allow them to study at Spanish universities. They are a total of 5,000 on average each year. Call for more visasthat it is easier to obtain and that they are obtained for a longer time (three years instead of one).