The United States is reportedly set to lead closed-door talks in Madrid on Tuesday between Morocco and the Polisario Front over the future of the Moroccan Sahara, according to Spain’s El Confidencial, which cited diplomatic sources close to the negotiations.
The meeting, to be held at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, will also include Algeria and Mauritania and is expected to take place under strict secrecy at the request of U.S. officials, the newspaper reports.
Washington has taken a leading role in the process in recent months, gradually sidelining the United Nations’ traditional mediation role.
Each party will be represented by a three-member delegation headed by senior diplomats. Morocco’s delegation will be led by Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, while Algeria will be represented by Ahmed Attaf and Mauritania by Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug. The Polisario Front will be represented by its chief diplomat, Mohamed Yeslem Beissat, according to El Confidencial.
U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura is expected to attend the talks, though U.S. officials Massad Boulos, President Donald Trump’s representative for Africa, and Michael Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, are said to be driving the initiative.
The Madrid meeting follows a previously undisclosed round of talks held in Washington two weeks ago that reportedly lasted 48 hours. That session, initially planned for Florida, was also conducted in secrecy and was not publicly reported in U.S. media, the outlet said.
Boulos has described resolving the Moroccan Sahara conflict as a top priority for Washington and has intensified contacts with regional leaders in recent weeks. In January, he visited Algeria, where he met President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
According to El Confidencial, the negotiations are grounded in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2797, adopted in October, which frames Morocco’s autonomy proposal as the primary basis for a political settlement.
Morocco submitted an expanded version of its autonomy plan in January, replacing its brief 2007 proposal with a detailed 40-page document prepared by senior royal advisers and government officials. U.S. officials have reportedly viewed the revised plan as an improvement, though still insufficient to constitute genuine self-rule.
Analysts cited by the newspaper said broader autonomy could require constitutional changes in Morocco and could risk encouraging similar demands in other regions, including the Rif.
Despite these concerns, Morocco has secured growing international backing. The European Union expressed collective support for the autonomy plan in January, and Spain formally endorsed it in 2022. The United States and France have both recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the territory.
Rabat is also seeking to weaken or dismantle the U.N. peacekeeping mission MINURSO, which was established in 1991 to organize a referendum on self-determination that was never held. Budget cuts and staff reductions have already reduced the mission’s operational capacity, El Confidencial reported.
Madrid was chosen as the venue for logistical reasons, allowing regional ministers to avoid traveling to Washington for a short meeting. Spain’s Foreign Ministry was not involved in organizing the talks, though Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares is expected to hold separate meetings with Algerian and Mauritanian officials later this week.
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