On 18 March 2022 the letter in which Pedro Sánchez backs Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara became public. What it says, who has reacted and what it means for gas and for business.
On 18 March 2022 Morocco’s Royal Cabinet made public the content of a letter from Pedro Sánchez to King Mohammed VI, dated 14 March, in which the Spanish prime minister backs the autonomy plan Rabat put forward in 2007 for Western Sahara. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares confirmed the report the same day in Barcelona. The full text was not known in Spain until Wednesday 23 March, five days later.
What the letter says
In the letter, Spain regards Morocco’s 2007 autonomy proposal as the most serious, credible and realistic basis for resolving the conflict, undertakes to avoid unilateral action and to build a relationship based on transparency, and proposes cooperating on managing migration flows in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Under that plan, Western Sahara would remain under Moroccan sovereignty with certain powers transferred.
Until now, Spain’s official position had been to support a political solution acceptable to both sides, within the framework of the United Nations. The Polisario Front, which calls for a self-determination referendum, has always rejected the autonomy plan. The United States recognised Moroccan sovereignty over the territory in December 2020, and in the previous weeks Washington and Berlin had backed the plan, in less firm terms than the letter, according to the press. The letter also follows the diplomatic crisis with Morocco that began in spring 2021, when Spain took in Polisario leader Brahim Ghali. Rabat had withdrawn its ambassador in Madrid, who returned to her post after almost ten months away.
The reactions
On 19 March Algeria, which backs the Polisario, recalled its ambassador in Madrid for consultations with immediate effect, and its Foreign Ministry said it was very surprised by the change of position. Spanish government sources replied that Algeria was a strategic, priority and reliable partner and that it had been informed beforehand; Algiers denied this on 20 March. The Polisario Front accused the government of giving in to Moroccan blackmail.
In Spain, too, the change did not go unchallenged. On 23 March Albares appeared before the Foreign Affairs Committee of Congress. According to the press, almost all the opposition groups, including the government’s parliamentary partners (ERC, EH Bildu and the PNV), rejected both the substance and the manner; Unidas Podemos, the coalition partner, defended self-determination for the Sahrawi people, and the PP and Ciudadanos asked for explanations and for Parliament to have been consulted. Albares argued that the shift unblocks the relationship with Morocco and repeated that Algeria is a reliable partner. Sánchez did not appear; the same day he travelled to Ceuta and Melilla.
Gas and business
Algeria is Spain’s main supplier of natural gas. In November 2021 it closed the Maghreb pipeline, which crossed Morocco, and it keeps the Medgaz pipeline, which runs directly to Spain. On 21 March Deputy Prime Minister Nadia Calviño said Algeria will keep supplying gas on a stable basis and that the two countries are in constant dialogue. Spain has also increased its purchases of liquefied natural gas from the United States, amid soaring energy prices because of the war in Ukraine.
For anyone with business or contracts in Algeria or Morocco, the change adds diplomatic uncertainty. It is worth reviewing the force majeure, change-of-circumstances, governing-law and dispute-resolution clauses of international contracts, and following official communications on trade and energy supply. This note is informative and does not assess the decision. Ask your legal adviser how it affects you.
A change in diplomatic position does not stay confined to diplomacy.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
