By Oisin Sweeney • Published: 22 Dec 2020 • 8:36
SPAIN has summoned the Moroccan ambassador to Madrid to clarify statements made by Morocco’s Prime Minister on Spanish territories in North Africa.
Morocco’s PM Saad Eddine El Othomani recently told an Arabic news network that his government plans to make a stake for territory over the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Bordering Morocco, the two territories have been ruled by Spain for centuries and are Europe’s last remaining outposts in Africa.
In a statement, Spain’s Foreign Ministry said it “expects that all its partners respect our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. Madrid has summoned the Moroccan ambassador Karima Benyaich to answer questions about El Othomani’s comments.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez recently canceled a planned trip to Morocco scheduled to take place at the beginning of December due to the coronavirus. Both countries enjoy close diplomatic and business ties, though the topics of Ceuta and Melilla occasionally crop up to produce spats between Madrid and Rabat.
Both Melilla and Ceuta are official Spanish territories, home to some 160,000 people between them.
Thank you for taking the time to read this news article “Spain and Morocco in Fresh Dispute over African Enclaves”. For more UK daily news, Spanish daily news and Global news stories, visit the Euro Weekly News home page.
Share this story
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don't already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Oisin is an Irish writer based in Seville, the sunny capital of Andalucia. After starting his working life as a bookseller, he moved into journalism and cut his teeth as a reporter at one of Ireland's biggest news websites. Since joining Euro Weekly News in November, he has enjoyed covering the latest stories from Seville, Spain and further afield - with special interests in crime, cybersecurity, and European politics. Anyone who can pronounce his name first try gets a free cerveza...
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Download our media pack in either English or Spanish.