Algeria decided on the recall with “immediate effectof its ambassador in Madrid after statements by the head of the Spanish government which constitute, according to Algiers, a “sudden reversal» position on the Western Saharaaccording to a press release quoted by the official media.
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Spain, very dependent on supplies of Algerian natural gas, made a radical change of position on this sensitive issue on Friday, publicly supporting Morocco’s position on an autonomy plan for Western Sahara for the first time, while that she had always advocated neutrality between Rabat and the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front.
A new position hailed by the Moroccan authorities
“Very surprised by the declarations of the highest Spanish authorities relating to the Western Sahara file, the Algerian authorities, surprised by this sudden reversal of position of the former administering power of Western Sahara, decided to recall their ambassador to Madrid for consultations with immediate effect“, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
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The head of Spanish diplomacy José Manuel Albares said on Friday in Barcelona that Spain “considers the autonomy initiative presented in 2007by Morocco as “the most serious, realistic and credible basis for resolving this disputebetween Rabat and the Polisario.
This new position, announced a few hours earlier by Rabat, quoting a message from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, was hailed by the Moroccan authorities as “constructive commitments», paving the way for a thaw in bilateral relations.
A major diplomatic quarrel
A major diplomatic quarrel opposed Rabat and Madrid since April 2021 after the reception in Spain to be treated there for Covid, of the leader of the Polisario Brahim Ghali. It resulted in the massive arrival in May 2021 of migrants of Moroccan origin in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta (northern Morocco), taking advantage of a relaxation of border surveillance on the Moroccan side.
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The conflict in Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony considered a “non-self-governing territoryby the UN, has opposed Morocco for decades to the Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algiers. Rabat, which controls nearly 80% of this territory, proposes an autonomy plan under its sovereignty while the Polisario calls for a self-determination referendum, planned when a ceasefire was signed in 1991, but never materialized.
Algeria supplies more than 40% of the natural gas imported by Spain, most of which reaches it through the Medgaz submarine gas pipeline.