Moroccan journalists reproached Spain today for applying a double standard on press freedom after Madrid criticized the removal of Spanish crews from Fnideq without addressing earlier restrictions on Morocco’s 2M television team in Ceuta, the Moroccan Forum of Young Journalists said on Saturday.
Spain’s government said press freedom must be protected “at all times and in all parts of the world” after Moroccan authorities ordered teams from public broadcaster TVE and news agency EFE to leave Fnideq. The Spanish Embassy in Rabat was contacting Moroccan authorities to seek a solution, it said.
“Defending these principles requires applying the same standards to Moroccan and Spanish journalists alike,” the forum said, warning against selective treatment based on a journalist’s nationality or media organization, referring to restrictions imposed about a week earlier on a 2M crew covering the aftermath of the mass migration crossings into Ceuta on July 30 and 31.
Spanish authorities prevented the team from entering the city with professional filming equipment, forcing its journalists to use mobile phones to record interviews and conditions on the ground.
“Images documenting moments of human suffering must not be removed from their factual context or used selectively to serve predetermined political narratives,” the forum said.
The dispute escalated Saturday as the TVE and EFE teams covered Morocco’s security operation around Fnideq, where authorities had deployed to prevent another attempted mass crossing.
A TVE correspondent said the crew was prevented from removing its filming equipment and left at about 7 p.m. after waiting three hours inside its hotel.
An EFE correspondent said a local official ordered him to leave because he was “following instructions,” without giving a reason.
The Moroccan forum urged Spanish media to apply to Moroccan journalists the same protections they demanded for their own crews.
It also warned against publishing images of migrants outside their “human and factual context” or using their suffering to support predetermined political narratives.
Moroccan authorities intercepted 294 attempted migrants around Fnideq on Saturday, including 248 people from sub-Saharan Africa and 46 Moroccans. The operation prevented a collective crossing after social media posts identified August 15 as the date for another attempt.
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