Morocco’s message to Spain: protect the partnership from party politics, analysts say

Morocco’s Foreign Ministry statement Thursday sought to protect relations with Spain while warning against making the kingdom a target in Spanish political battles, two Moroccan analysts said, pointing to its reminder of commitments agreed in 2022.

The statement followed mounting criticism from Spanish right-wing parties over the mass crossings into Ceuta in late July, including attempts to hold Morocco responsible.

Abbas El Ouardi, a public law professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat, said the response recalled the framework established when King Mohammed VI met Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on April 7, 2022: trust, cooperation and diplomatic management of disagreements.

For El Ouardi, the message was that relations must remain grounded in mutual respect between states, even as political rhetoric intensifies.

Morocco was seeking to defend its institutions without damaging ties with a strategic neighbor, he said. He characterized the statement as a measured response after prolonged restraint, rather than evidence of a rupture with Madrid.

Mohamed Nachtaoui, president of the Ibn Rushd Center for Strategic Studies and Policy Analysis, similarly described the approach as calm in presentation but firm in substance.

“Morocco does not accept being an electoral bargaining chip or a scapegoat for internal conflicts,” he said.

Nachtaoui argued that economic, security and migration cooperation would remain unavoidable for any Spanish politician entering government, whatever their campaign rhetoric. The relationship, he said, was shaped by geography and shared interests as well as historical sensitivities.

He viewed pressure on Sánchez over Ceuta, renewed Spanish engagement with Algeria and proposals concerning citizenship for Sahrawis as developments testing the 2022 framework.

In his assessment, the ministry’s response sought to return relations to that foundation while distancing Morocco from Spain’s partisan disputes. El Ouardi likewise emphasized preserving the practical and institutional ties that allow the two neighbors to manage differences without undermining cooperation.