Spain welcomes Morocco's olive branch: “ An opportunity to forge a new and stronger relationship”

KING Mohammed VI of Morocco has contacted Spain's president Pedro Sánchez and expressed his wish to 'turn over the page' and 'start again' – an announcement Sánchez calls 'great news'.

“This will be a great opportunity to redefine our relationship and the pillars that support it – a relationship between countries which are allies and brothers,” says Sánchez.

The Moroccan monarch is a long-term personal friend of Spain's former King, Juan Carlos I, who abdicated in favour of his son in June 2014 – and this friendship, along with the two countries' historical ties and geographical proximity mean their alliance has always been exceptionally strong.

But a diplomatic crisis arose in April this year, when Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front in the disputed Western Sahara territory, was admitted to hospital in Spain.

Spain's solidarity with the Saharawi people is legendary – children from the refugee camps spend entire summers in the country with host families – although Morocco refuses to accept Western Sahara as a separate nation.

This in itself had never caused any real issues between the two neighbouring nations – which share a land border, via the Spanish city-provinces of Ceuta and Melilla – until the Polisario leader was given medical treatment in Spain.

In what seemed to be an act of revenge, Moroccan authorities turned a blind eye when thousands of desperate migrants stormed the Ceuta border fence in May, meaning practically all of them were able to gain entry, including nearly 1,100 unaccompanied children and teenagers.

Pedro Sánchez thanked King Mohammed VI for his olive branch, adding: “From all crises, opportunities arise, and this is a great opportunity to redefine our relationship.”

King Mohammed VI expressed his wish for a close friendship between the two nations, 'based upon confidence, trust, transparency, mutual consideration, and respect for each others' commitments'.

“We welcome those words, because confidence and trust, respect and cooperation, now and in the future, are the basis upon which we can build a much more solid relationship than the one we've had up to now,” Sánchez says.

He stresses that the 1,100 children and teens who entered the Spanish 'pocket' of Ceuta, which has an estimated 85,000 inhabitants, have been cared for properly since day one with the help of Ceuta's authorities, Morocco, and various charities.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Council of Europe president Charles Michel both championed King Mohammed VI's words.

“Morocco is an honorary member and partner of the European Union, with whom we maintain a very close cooperation, so having a good relationship with this country is just as important to the EU as it is to Spain,” they said.