The Moroccan Consul to Spain, Ahmed Moussa said that “the Canary Islands’ concern over Moroccan maritime oil exploration operations is understandable,” in an interview with the Spanish outlet SER.
Following the archipelago government’s statements about Moroccan oil prospections in the Atlantic, Moussa assured that “this operation is still in the exploration phase, not yet in the exploitation phase.”
He also specified that these marine subsoil explorations have been carried out since the year 2000, and exclusively concern the waters within Morocco’s jurisdiction and continental zone.
While highlighting the “encouraging” results achieved thus far, namely the discovery of gas in two fields, the Consul told the outlet in an interview that “Morocco fully recognizes Spain’s sovereignty over the Canary Islands,” adding that the Kingdom even defended this stance “while other neighboring countries launched separatist movements in the Canary Islands.”
Morocco’s recent gas and oil exploration results in its southern Atlantic waters have sparked a major political debate within Spanish circles, prompting Angel Victor Torres, president of the Canary Islands, to “categorically” reject any exploration in the archipelago’s waters last week.
Torres assures that the drilling operations are located “in Moroccan waters and not in ‘Sahrawi’ or Canary Islands waters,” adding that “these explorations are under the jurisdiction of Morocco,” while assuring that the Canarian government “will not” allow anyone to touch “one millimeter” of its waters.
According to the president, “the Canary Islands will be present in any negotiations taking place between Morocco and Spain, which have to do with the waters that flow between the Canary Islands and Morocco.”
On another note, regarding amplified irregular migration departing from the Moroccan southern coast towards the Spanish Islands, Ahmed Moussa said that “a single country cannot stop this global phenomenon.”
Moussa pointed out the “exemplary cooperation” between Spain and Morocco in the field, which highly reduces irregular migratory flows.
Despite significant efforts from both Moroccan and Spanish authorities to thwarts irregular migration attempts, the number of people who died on the different maritime migration routes to Spain has reached a total of 1,255 in 2021, the highest number recorded by the UN’s International Organization for Migration.
According to the latest tally dating back to December 3, the IOM’s Missing Migrants program reported a total of 937 migrants passed away on route to the Canary Islands alone.
In contrast, the number of migrants who have managed to reach the Canary Islands so far in 2021 has reached 20,148.
However, mended diplomatic relations between Spain and Morocco have recently resulted in a significant drop in successful attempts, exceeding 40%
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