There are two clear demands: a political one, support for Morocco's proposal for broad autonomy under its sovereignty, and an economic one, investment and business participation in the three regions already considered by Washington to be southern Morocco

España puede perder el tren del Sáhara

photo_camera Morocco

When you talk to many Sahrawis living in the Dakhla-Rio de Oro region, their memory of the Spanish is fond and affectionate and, although they have some misgivings about the inactive role of the last 40 years, they ask Spain to return to the Sahara. There are two clear requests. One political, support for Morocco's proposal for broad autonomy for the Sahara under its sovereignty, recently endorsed by the US Administration. An economic one, investment and business participation in the opportunities for development and progress now offered by the three regions already considered by Washington to be southern Morocco. Development plans are in place. Plots of land have been developed for the construction of housing, industrial estates and all types of infrastructure.

Legislation has been streamlined to encourage the arrival of investors, and the doors, which are open on the Moroccan side, will be fully opened on the Spanish side when the political conditions on Saharan sovereignty disappear. The president of the Regional Council of Dakhla-Rio de Oro, Yanja El Khattat, assures ABC journal that "Spain has historically known the region, (it was there from 1884 to 1976), it has strong ties with Morocco. It has to support the autonomy proposal".

The president affirms that the development and progress of the Sahara will solve the problems. "The conflict can be ended by having work, housing, education, health and prosperity". He underlines that there are Spanish companies doing business in Dakhla "many buy fish, especially octopus" and lists the key sectors of the region with great opportunities "tourism, renewable energies, fishing, agriculture and logistics due to the forthcoming construction of a large port that will be strategic in the Atlantic". 

Morocco

Less bureaucracy for investments

Mounir Houari, director of the Dakhla Investment Centre, is very explicit in welcoming Spanish businessmen who want to take advantage of the opportunity, "the number of days to acquire land has been reduced to 28, the procedures can be consulted online, taxes and the repatriation of profits are clear and there is legal certainty". Houari presents Dakhla as the future gateway to doing business in Africa. The opinion of a Moroccan businessman, Noamane El Belghiti, a builder in Tangier looking for projects in Dakhla, is conclusive: "There are many opportunities here for Spanish companies". 

They are all very respectful of the will of the Spanish businessmen who, no doubt, may be affected by the political conditions, but they are confident, as Ahmed Abdellaoui, president of the Regional Tourism Council, is, "that the Spanish government will take the step forward to support the good Moroccan proposal for autonomy because it will be beneficial for all Saharawis, for the progress of the Sahara and for bilateral relations between the two countries". Abdellaoui avoids entering into the political conflict that may arise within the Spanish government over the position of the leader of Podemos party and second vice-president, Pablo Iglesias, in calling for the holding of a referendum in the Sahara as clear support for the Polisario Front and confrontation with Morocco.

Morocco

RAN for February

In a few days' time, we will see how this issue is handled by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, with the possible holding of the High Level Conference between the Spanish and Moroccan executives, scheduled for February after its postponement in December with the coronavirus as official justification and with relevant issues on the table such as immigration, but in such a rarefied atmosphere that King Mohammed VI had already warned that his agenda did not allow him to receive Sánchez. It became clear that the real cause of the postponement, in addition to Moroccan unease, was the surprise announcement by the US administration, led by Trump, recognising Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. 

La Moncloa's advisors did not have enough time to orchestrate the usual marketing response and opted to buy time. However, the diplomatic and political dynamics created by the US decision clearly put pressure on the parties to negotiate a solution based on autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty. 

A solution that is not acceptable to a large part of the Polisario Front, although there is growing unease among the more than 150,000 Saharawis in the Tindouf camps who are fed up with a miserable life with no future prospects. In addition, terrorist groups in the Sahel prey on young Sahrawis who give in to the need for the money offered by the terrorists to join their ranks. One of the most violent groups is led by a Sahrawi.

Morocco

Algeria's key

Political changes in Algeria, following the new constitution, the budget, the recovery of President Tebboune and his new appointments in the military and intelligence services, also augur a better willingness to negotiate a final solution. The economic and social scourge of the coronavirus is also influencing the softening of certain historical positions for the purely economic and personal interests of an obsolete leadership. 

Within the UN Security Council, the appointment of a new Special Representative for the Sahara, a post vacant since May 2019 following the resignation of the German Horst Khöler for health reasons, is being negotiated. The next step in negotiating a solution to the conflict would be to reconvene the negotiating table in Geneva with all the actors present and make definitive progress on a firm and lasting agreement that would free thousands of Sahrawis in Tindouf from their suffering. 

The Spanish government should adopt, if not already done so, a position on the Sahara which, according to diplomatic sources, should be in line with the political, economic, social, cultural and security interests of its Moroccan neighbours, although it is true that we should not forget our dependence on Algerian gas, which is the opposing party in this conflict, and the permanent need for balanced relations.

All signs indicate that other European countries with weight in the region, such as the United Kingdom, will follow in Washington's footsteps and apply the political agreement, which also has a substantial economic and commercial complement already available. France's position, wary of having lost the initiative in a region it considers to be under its tutelage, may complicate the negotiations somewhat and provide Spain with a justification that allows it to maintain its artificial status of neutrality, as it is legally considered by the United Nations to be the administrator of the territory. 

Little by little, the time is approaching for Spain to take a decision on a situation that for years has created affective political conditions to protect the weakest, but which reality has been revealing as a manipulation of the lives of thousands of human beings that intersect with the strategic interests of the major powers, such as preventing Algeria and its Russian ally from having an outlet and military bases in the Atlantic at all costs.

Morocco

Normality at Guerguerat

The Guerguerat border crossing remains normal and the free movement of lorries of all sizes, some 300 a day, which are key to trade between Morocco, Mauritania and sub-Saharan Africa, is maintained. A week ago, Morocco played down the effects of an attack by the Polisario Front, which intends to maintain its state of war, despite its enormous limitations, by considering the intervention in Guerguerat by the Moroccan army to restore traffic after 10 days of blockade by a group of Polisario activists as a violation of the ceasefire. The Polisario is trying to avoid at all costs the effect of the US decision on a definitive solution to the conflict with autonomy. 

Political constraints on Spain's relationship with Western Sahara have contributed to an almost total abandonment of Spain's cultural legacy after more than a century in a desert but fascinating land. The lighthouse, an old military barracks, a square and a museum with a bookshop donated from the Canary Islands are the few references to the Spanish presence. The most relevant thing is the language. You can find people of a certain age speaking Spanish, but it is not sufficiently promoted. Only the Unamuno Academy run by Brahim Hameyada has two groups of about fifteen students each. It has finally got support from the Cervantes Institute. Hameyada calls on Spain to provide more support to maintain a fundamental language and on the local authorities to also contribute to the teaching of Spanish.

Morocco

Maghlaha Dlimi, with a hard experience as a child in Tindouf and Cuba, takes care of the library with Spanish books donated from the Canary Islands. Boujari Mamun, head of culture at the Regional Human Rights Commission of Dakhla, claims that Spain should take care of its cultural legacy because "Spanish culture is part of our history". The president of the Commission, Maimouna Essayed, a young woman in her thirties, comments in Spanish on the work carried out by an independent group of people, who for more than ten years have not received complaints of human rights violations for political reasons, in the 1990s they achieved reconciliation and compensation for all those who suffered imprisonment, including those who were in Tindouf, and now in the last year 2020 of the pandemic there were 6 abused women and another 40 complaints, mainly from sub-Saharan immigrants. In Spain, 45 women died of gender violence in 2020.

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