Embajadora de Marruecos: “Me ofende cuando se dice que Marruecos hace chantaje a España, somos un país responsable”

The Moroccan ambassador in Spain, Karima Benyaich, has assured, in an interview with Europa Press, that she is "offended" by the declarations that accuse her country of "blackmailing" Spain, in the area of immigration or in any other area, because they give an image "that is not realistic" of a country that the Spanish know little about despite being neighbors.
"What offends me are statements to the effect that Morocco is blackmailing Spain, that we are opportunists, we are not. That offends me as ambassador of my country because with these statements they give an image that is not realistic to the public opinion, which does not know enough Morocco, although we are fourteen kilometers from Spain" she said.

Furthermore, she defends that Morocco "is a responsible country that makes great efforts at all levels", with its region, with its neighbors to the north and south and with its own economic development, although she has recognized that there is still a long way to go - and that King Mohammed VI is the first to point this out.

Benyaich makes it clear that he does not value statements by any political party, nor does he enter "into the internal debate" in Spain, because his role is to strengthen relations "at all levels" and he makes it clear that with the government they are "excellent, decades ago, and they are being strengthened with both the PSOE and the PP. 

"Our relationship has reached an important moment of maturity and there are no problems between the two countries. When an issue arises that challenges us, we opt for dialogue and communication to resolve it and understand each other," he says.

Thus, he rules out that there are issues that will tarnish the RAN, the High Level Meeting that the two governments are going to hold in Rabat on December 17. It will be the moment to give a new impulse to the relationship with diverse agreements because, as he has underlined, the relationship between the two countries goes much further than cooperation against terrorism or migrations, even though this is "an important pillar".

Spain has been Morocco's leading trade partner for seven years and more than 1,000 Spanish companies operate in Morocco - the summit will be accompanied by a business forum. Benyaich believes that his country should make itself better known in Spain, because "the Moroccan people love the Spanish people very much and know them better than the Spanish know the Moroccans.
In Morocco there are 80,000 students of Spanish - between the educational system and the Cervantes Institutes. Along with the million Moroccan tourists who visit Spain every year, she has made it clear that she is proud of the Moroccan community in Spain, even if sometimes they only point out "the problems". It is, he said, the second largest and the first in terms of social security contributions.

Moreover, because of the value of the "stability" that Morocco represents in a convulsed region, its promotion of open and tolerant Islam and its relationship with sub-Saharan Africa, where it is the first investor "without having either gas or oil", as he has stressed on several occasions. It is also the first automotive producer on the continent and has the first high-speed train and 1,800 kilometers of highways.

"Morocco also has a very strong migratory pressure"

In relation to migration, he stresses that "it is not easy to fight against the mafias" and that in Spain "nobody talks about the fact that Morocco also has a very strong migratory pressure" and has already become a host country, with a policy of migration and asylum.

"We have regularized thousands of people because we are committed to human rights and His Majesty gives great importance to women and children to benefit from education, health, to be able to work legally," he explains.

In addition, he argues that Morocco has "3,500 kilometers of coastline" and is investing in the fight against mafias with its own funds. "The mafias play with these people, they throw them into the sea," he says, and now "they have lowered their rates" because the Mediterranean is more controlled and the Atlantic is more dangerous.

 "Morocco does not leave its citizens"

"We are responsible partners, we collaborate with Spain and with Europe", says Benyaich, who puts the "mixed patrols" as a proof of the "maturity" of the cooperation. He insists, however, that it must be "global" and not only between Spain and Morocco, because migrants come from other countries and continue on their way to Europe.

The ambassador does not clarify, however, if the recent visit of the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, resulted in any agreement to speed up the repatriations. "The only thing I can tell you is that our relations are excellent and Morocco has always cooperated and does not leave its fellow citizens".

Closing of borders

Karima Benyaich has assured that the closure of borders between the two countries, like the land borders with Melilla and Ceuta since last March 13, "were closed because of the pandemic, to stop the spread of Covid" and not for any other reason and that trade flows have not been interrupted. There are also safe corridors for tourism and several airlines have resumed flights.

"The most important thing now is the pandemic and its uncertainties," he says, confident that the High Level Meeting (HLM), the bilateral summit that the two governments are going to hold in Rabat on December 17, will serve to "open a new post-Covid era," although he has not advanced when the border posts could be reopened while the current infection figures in both countries persist, pending also the results of the vaccination campaigns that could begin in weeks.

As he explains, Morocco is working "on a new development model" because the previous one did not meet the expectations of a new generation of trained young people, and now it is adapting it to the effects of the pandemic. And he doesn't think that this development should bother Spain: "When we built the Tangier Med port it looked bad from Spain, but today it has an extraordinary collaboration with the port of Algeciras and both are winning because there are more flows".