Latest news with #Spanish-Moroccan
Morocco World
2 days ago
- Morocco World
Spanish Police Seize Over 15 Tons of Hashish Hidden in Moroccan Watermelon Truck
Rabat – Spanish authorities, working closely with Moroccan and French counterparts, have intercepted a massive shipment of hashish smuggled into Spain from Morocco, seizing more than 15 tons of the drug concealed in a truck loaded with watermelons. The truck, which arrived in the port of Almería from Morocco, was stopped by Spain's national police. Officers discovered 13.3 tons of hashish stashed between watermelon pallets and inside cleverly disguised fake sweet potatoes. The operation, which also led to the arrest of five men, including the truck driver and others involved in surveillance and logistics, was the result of months of international cooperation. The suspects, accused of belonging to a criminal organization and drug trafficking , have been brought before a judge and placed in pretrial detention. According to a statement from the Spanish police, the raid was coordinated with Morocco's General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) and France's anti-narcotics office (OFAST). The investigation began in early June after OFAST alerted Spanish authorities to the activities of a Spanish-Moroccan criminal network trafficking large quantities of hashish into Europe. Investigators soon determined that the group planned to use a semi-trailer truck to smuggle the drugs via Almería, exploiting the steady flow of agricultural shipments between Morocco and Spain to avoid detection. Police eventually tracked the truck to a warehouse in an industrial area, where they uncovered dozens of packages of hashish hidden among watermelon pallets. They also found sacks resembling sweet potatoes, which turned out to be hollow containers designed to conceal additional drugs and evade inspection. Spanish authorities hailed the operation as a successful example of cross-border cooperation against organized crime. Tags: drug traffickinghashishspain police
Morocco World
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Fórum Canario Saharaui Hails Spain's Support for Morocco's Autonomy Plan
Doha – The Fórum Canario Saharaui has expressed strong satisfaction with Spain's renewed support for Morocco's autonomy plan for the Sahara. The organization welcomed the joint declaration made on April 17 by Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares and his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita in Madrid. 'The recent joint declaration marks a new milestone in this path, reaffirming that the position maintained by our Association since its inception was and continues to be the most sensible and realistic to guarantee a future of peace and prosperity for all inhabitants of the Sahara,' the Forum said in an official statement. The Forum particularly seized on Bourita's remarks that those who continue demanding a self-determination referendum 'do not want a solution' and aim to 'keep Sahrawi refugees in the Algerian desert for another 50 years.' The organization noted that this assertion 'fully coincides with the position our Forum has defended for years.' The Spanish-Moroccan joint declaration reaffirmed Spain's position that the Moroccan autonomy initiative, presented in 2007, remains 'the most serious, realistic and credible basis for resolving this dispute.' This position was initially adopted by Spain in March 2022 when the government recognized Morocco's proposal as the foundation for resolving the conflict. Both ministers touted the positive trajectory of bilateral relations, pointing to substantial progress in migration cooperation, economic exchanges, and security collaboration. Trade between the two countries reached nearly €23 billion in 2024, representing a 7% increase from the previous year. Read also: Ex-Spanish PM Zapatero's Latest Book Lauds Morocco Ties, Backs Autonomy Plan The Canary Saharan Forum rejected claims that Spain's position represented any sudden change of direction. 'Far from 'swerves' and 'Copernican turns,' as some tendentiously falsely claim, international support for the Moroccan autonomy plan has been considerably strengthened,' the statement noted, adding that 22 EU countries now recommitted to the plan, alongside the United States and France. Last month, the Forum had condemned what it called media campaigns by individuals who 'only seek to distort the reality of Western Sahara with false trips purportedly seeking to monitor human rights, but in reality seeking personal public notoriety and propaganda activity in favor of the Polisario Front.' The Moroccan top diplomat's recent diplomatic tour yielded decisive international backing for Morocco's position. During visits to the United States, France, Spain, Croatia, Hungary, Moldova, Estonia, and Slovenia, Bourita secured renewed support for the autonomy plan as the only realistic solution to the regional dispute. The Forum urged political actors, especially in Spain, 'to set aside ideological dogmas and adopt a position based on pragmatism and the real welfare of the Sahrawi population.' It maintains that the autonomy proposal under Moroccan sovereignty would allow Sahrawis to 'manage their own affairs within a framework of legal security and regional stability.' Tags: autonomy planMorocco Spain relationsWestern sahara
El Chorouk
18-04-2025
- Politics
- El Chorouk
Moroccan Regime's Provocative Position Against Algeria From Spain
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita exploited his meeting with his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, to undermine the return to normal relations between Algeria and Madrid. This was nearly two years after a severe diplomatic crisis following Spain's shift in position on the Western Sahara issue. At a joint press conference in the Spanish capital, the Foreign Minister of the Alaouite Kingdom sent coded messages to Algeria, full of impudence and provocation, and embarrassment to the Spanish side. He said, 'Not everyone is happy with the current level of Moroccan-Spanish relations,' implicitly referring to Algeria. The intention of the Alawite official is revealed in the following statement: 'There are those who want to turn this relationship into an element of political debate or a subject of outbidding, or to throw it back to a time of conflict and problems. But the will of the leadership in both countries, and the real actors involved, lays the foundations that prevent a regression.' Rabat's Foreign Minister goes too far when he uses the term 'informants,' referring to a third party seeking to destroy his country's relations with the Kingdom of Spain, as he claimed. The Spanish foreign minister's remarks indicate that he is attempting to place the blame for the crisis in Spanish-Moroccan relations in 2021 on a third party, Algeria. Even though everyone knows that the cause of the crisis lies in the Moroccan regime's involvement in spying, using the sionist Pegasus spyware, on the phones of several senior officials in its northern neighbor, including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Minister of Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares, Interior Minister Fernando Grande Marlaska Gomez, and Defense Minister Margarita Robles. Algerian-Spanish relations entered a dark tunnel more than three years ago, following the shift in Spain's position on the Western Sahara issue. This led to the withdrawal of the ambassador from Madrid and the imposition of painful economic sanctions on the Spanish side, which were only lifted about a year ago. The Spanish Foreign Minister's statements violated diplomatic norms, as they were made from the platform of a host country that had recently restored relations with Algeria. This represents a major embarrassment for the Madrid government, which has expended significant efforts and considerable time to restore its relations with Algeria after its economic institutions, which export to Algeria, incurred heavy losses for nearly two years of the crisis. A similar incident involving the Moroccan regime previously led to the severing of diplomatic relations. This refers to statements made by the sionist entity's Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, more than four years ago, in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, during a joint conference with his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita. He attacked Algeria in an unprecedented manner that had never occurred in any Arab or Islamic country. It is well known that this shameful incident, which implicated the Moroccan regime, was among the reasons that prompted the Algerian authorities to sever diplomatic relations with Rabat in the summer of 2021. They also imposed painful economic sanctions, such as halting the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline, which exported Algerian gas to Spain via Moroccan territory. The Alawite regime benefited from this pipeline by gaining a certain rate of the gas, along with millions of dollars in fees for the pipeline's passage through Moroccan territory. Although the Algerian authorities have not commented on the indirect provocations issued by a senior official in the Alawite regime, this will not go unnoticed and will be considered an unfriendly act by the Spanish side, which could affect the recovery of bilateral relations.
Local Spain
17-04-2025
- Business
- Local Spain
Spain backs closer EU-Morocco ties after trade deals cancelled
The European Union has tightened cooperation with Rabat, an important trading partner, since signing an association deal in 1996, notably facilitating trade in agriculture and fishing. But the Western Sahara, a vast and resource-rich former Spanish colony mostly controlled by Morocco but claimed by the pro-independence Polisario Front, has complicated the strengthening of relations. In October last year, the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed a 2021 ruling that cancelled deals allowing Morocco to export fish and farm products to the 27-nation bloc from the Western Sahara. The court said the agreements breached the principles of self-determination in the Western Sahara, posing questions about future prospects for stronger ties between Morocco and the EU. On Thursday, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares underscored the current benefits of Morocco's "privileged status" with the EU and his country's desire to deepen it. "Therefore, Spain wishes for the prompt holding of a European Union-Morocco council that gives fresh impetus to this strategic association," he said at a joint appearance in Madrid with Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita. Spain improved its previously fraught ties with Morocco in 2022 after backing Rabat's plan to grant the Western Sahara autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty, a stance also supported by the United States and France. Bourita said the Spanish-Moroccan relationship was now "going through its best moment" and that his country aimed for more cooperation and investment from its European neighbour.
Ya Biladi
11-04-2025
- Business
- Ya Biladi
Morocco, Spain strengthen cooperation on strait of Gibraltar fixed link with new agreements
Morocco and Spain have strengthened their cooperation on the proposed fixed link across the Strait of Gibraltar by signing two new partnership agreements focused on digitalization and engineering studies. The agreements were signed Thursday in Madrid during a working visit by a Moroccan delegation led by Abdelkbir Zahoud, president of the National Company for the Studies of the Strait of Gibraltar (SNED). The visit included technical meetings between Moroccan and Spanish experts, chaired on the Spanish side by José Luis Goberna Caride, Executive Chairman of Spain's SECEGSA — the public body responsible for the fixed link project. The discussions centered on digitizing project documentation, establishing a future data management system, and advancing engineering studies for the potential undersea connection between the two countries. As part of the visit, a cooperation agreement was signed between Spain's Center for Studies and Experimentation in Public Works (CEDEX) and Morocco's Public Laboratory for Testing and Studies. The agreement covers joint research and technical studies in areas such as transportation infrastructure, geotechnics, railways, water resources, road safety, and environmental management. A second agreement was signed between the Polytechnic University of Madrid's School of Civil Engineering and Morocco's Hassania School of Public Works (EHTP). This partnership will support academic exchanges, joint research initiatives, and student internships, with a focus on strengthening technical and scientific collaboration on the Gibraltar project. The agreements are part of a broader exchange program between SNED and SECEGSA aimed at enhancing cross-border cooperation and aligning efforts among public institutions, engineering firms, universities, and research centers involved in the project. The initiative follows up on commitments made during the 43rd session of the Spanish-Moroccan Joint Committee on the Fixed Link, held in April 2023, where both sides reaffirmed their shared vision of developing a strategic transcontinental infrastructure.
