Spain changes stance, backs Moroccan rule in Western Sahara

MADRID — Spain on Friday declared “a new stage” in its strained relations with Morocco after the Spanish prime minister wrote to the Moroccan king, agreeing that having Western Sahara operate autonomously under Rabat’s rule is “the most serious, realistic and credible” initiative for resolving a decades-long dispute over the vast African territory. Over the years, the Spanish government’s official position, along with the European Union’s, has been to support a U.N.- But according to a statement issued by Morocco’s royal palace on Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recognized “the importance of the Sahara issue for Morocco” in a letter to King Mohammed VI. In its statement, the Spanish government welcomed the invitations and said it wanted to face “common challenges” together with Rabat, “especially cooperation in the management of migratory flows in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.” According to the Moroccan royal palace, in his message to the king, Sánchez wrote that Spain’s goal is “to act with the absolute transparency that corresponds to a great friend and ally.” Sánchez, leader of Spain’s Socialists, has been at the helm of a fragile coalition with the far-left United We Can party, with the two sides often clashing over their views on feminism, social spending and foreign policy. Soon after Morocco’s announcement, the junior partner’s most prominent leader, Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, tweeted that she was committed “to the defense of the Saharawi people and to the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.” “Any solution to the conflict must go through dialogue and respect for the democratic will of the Saharawi people,” Díaz added.