Since politics - and much more so, international politics - is fundamentally based on gestures, the most important aspect of the visit of the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, to Morocco, accompanied by 11 of his ministers, is without a doubt the disparagement by the king Mohammed VI in deciding not to receive him. Without many details, beyond the fact that he is officially out of Rabat, the Magrebhi country's monarch fobbed off a meeting with the Spanish PM inviting him to a future interview on an unspecified date. The solid alliance between Spain and Morocco, which Madrid is trying to impose on the official narrative after leaving the Sahrawis high and dry over their historical claim to be their own state, does not seem to be enough for Mohammed VI, who has no hesitation in staging a diplomatic snub that is not at all compatible with the concessions made by Pedro Sánchez.
It is not strange, therefore, to ask what power Morocco has over Pedro Sánchez or his government that allows it to force the Spanish executive to be so erratic in its policy? Above all, because the change of direction by Madrid has been a full 180 degrees, going from defending the Sahrawis to handing them over to Morocco so that they fall directly into the well of oblivion. This Thursday, the joint Spanish-Moroccan declaration is again a bombshell for Western Sahara. The text of the agreed declaration indicates that "with regard to the issue of Western Sahara, Spain reiterates the position expressed in the joint declaration adopted on April 7th, 2022". And what did that statement say? "Spain considers the Moroccan autonomy initiative, presented in 2007, as the most serious, realistic and credible basis for resolving this dispute", it said. There is no nuance possible and, on the other hand, yes, there is a total abandonment.
Another relevant fact: Pedro Sánchez travelled accompanied only by PSOE ministers, because none of the cabinet members from junior coalition partner Unidas Podemos wanted to go with him. This is not very normal in coalition governments, where the balance of the delegation is generally distributed in proportion to the number of ministers that each political party has. And a further point: in a recent vote by the European Parliament, the Socialist MEPs did not vote in favour of an initiative that defended Moroccan journalists jailed in different prisons across the country. Yet another detail: Morocco was signaled as one of the countries that used the Israeli-produced Pegasus technology to carry out espionage in Spain. And moreover, all this is happening in the middle of the so-called Qatargate case, in which several MEPs have been implicated, and a vice-president even had to resign.
Although the case is under a sub judice order from the Belgian judiciary, which has taken charge of it because Brussels is one of the two seats of the European Parliament along with Strasbourg, it has been speculated that the tentacles of the Qatari regime could end up affecting Spanish MEPs. It has also been said that one of the ramifications of this bribery case would lead to Rabat. The new policy of building relationships with Morocco has prompted an about-turn from the line taken for several decades by Socialist and People's Party governments and it is this fact that has opened a Pandora's box that Pedro Sánchez is unable to close by simply being opaque on the matter. Meanwhile, Western Sahara's self-determination claim is left to bleed to death after losing Spain's support, yet on the other hand, Madrid does not get even granted a simple audience by Mohammed VI in return. Strange, isn't it?