Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, is currently in Morocco on an official visit with the goal of mending relations after a deep diplomatic crisis between the two countries.
“The better the relations are between Morocco and Spain, the better it is for Spain, for Morocco, for Europe, for business, and for the citizens of both countries,” Mr Sanchez said at an economic forum in Rabat.
He will meet with senior Moroccan government officials together with a dozen other Spanish ministers on Thursday February 2.
According to Spanish government sources, they are expected to sign about 24 agreements, including ones involving Spanish investments in the kingdom and cooperation in sectors ranging from culture and education to desalination and rail transportation.
This visit takes place in the midst of territorial and migration disputes, as well as following Madrid’s decision to support Morocco’s position on the Western Sahara crisis after years of neutrality.
Additionally, the Spanish enclaves in North Africa, Melilla and Ceuta, which both border Morocco, have long served as shelter for those escaping war and poverty throughout Africa and and poverty across Africa, seeking refuge through the continent’s only land frontiers with the European Union.
Tensions were strained last year after the deaths of at least 23 sub-Saharan migrants who were attempting to cross from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Melilla.
Author-Roberta Appiah
