<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, took advantage of his appearance before the Congress of Deputies this Monday to thank Morocco and France for "all the support" they gave Spain in overcoming the massive power outage of April 28.</strong></h4> Albares made this statement before the Congress's Foreign Affairs Committee, in which he addressed, at his own request, the new Foreign Action Strategy for the period 2025-2028 and the situation at the customs offices in Ceuta and Melilla. This appearance was initially scheduled for last Monday, but was postponed precisely because of the massive blackout across mainland Spain. “I want to thank Morocco, as well as France, for all the support they gave us to quickly launch our power plants,” said Albares, who asserted that Rabat's aid was “key” to reactivating the national energy system and was “further evidence of the excellent state of our relations with our neighbors, especially with Morocco.” In this regard, the minister recalled that, during their bilateral meeting on April 16 in Madrid, both he and his Moroccan counterpart, Naser Bourita, agreed that Spain and Morocco are experiencing “the best relations in our history.” Another example of this improvement in relations, he continued, is the “recent opening of commercial customs offices in Ceuta and Melilla,” within the framework of “a broader process of normalization at the border, for both the movement of people and goods.” This is “a gradual, progressive process that involves many actors, including customs and other administrations in both countries,” he stated. In this regard, Albares recalled that on February 11, the passage of goods with Melilla was reopened, and "for the first time in our history," the passage of goods through the first commercial customs office between Ceuta and Morocco was opened. Since that date, he added, "daily passage of goods in both directions, Monday through Friday," has been recorded, reaching 3.5 tons of products during this period, both fresh and dry goods for construction, transported from Morocco to Spain, and hygiene and cleaning products, household appliances, and electronics, which have traveled in the opposite direction. <h5><strong>Criticism from the groups</strong></h5> During the debate, the PP spokesperson in the committee, Carlos Floriano, stated that the 2025-2028 Foreign Action Strategy maintains the "submissive strategy towards Morocco" and denounced the government's "terrible decision," which has "abandoned the Sahrawi people to their fate, distancing us from the traditional Spanish position," and has confirmed "the sovereignty of the invader over the occupied." In his response, José Manuel Albares accused the PP of being an "anti-Moroccan" party and of being on the path to becoming an "anti-French" party due to its rejection of the Friendship Agreement with France. For his part, Agustín Santos, of Sumar (a minority partner in the coalition government), warned that "the PSOE's solitary position regarding the decolonization process in Western Sahara is evident" and stated that, "if serious initiatives are not taken to reactivate negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front, there is a risk that the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) will not be renewed, and that its special envoy, Staffan de Mistura, may even resign." "To avoid a false end to this long conflict, it is necessary to comply with the United Nations resolutions with Spain's decisive intervention," he added. Jon Iñarritu, of EH Bildu, demanded that the government rectify its change of position on Western Sahara because, he warned, "the price to pay for getting along with Morocco cannot be abandoning the Sahara." He criticized Albares's inconsistency, characterized by his defense of recognition of the Palestinian state and his "absolute passivity" regarding the Sahara. Finally, Carlos Flores Juberías, of Vox, emphasized that the Foreign Action Strategy omits any reference to Western Sahara, which, in his opinion, is revealing of the government's foreign policy.
