Spain’s Morocco approach criticised

The Moroccan and international public opinion has reflected surprise towards the position of the Spanish authorities, which expressed reservations on the American proposal to expand the functions of Mission "MINURSO" in the desert. The United States' proposal called to include human rights monitoring in the mission, while Spain, a Member State in the group "Friends of the Desert" defended the Moroccan proposal on granting autonomy to the provinces of the desert. Spain rejected the demands of the Polisario Front for self-determination, a quick turn-a-round after earlier defending the demands of the front. This contradictory position of the Spanish authorities was interpreted by experts that "Spain and the West in general do not understand. They talk in the language of interests and numbers, trade and economy." Experts told Arabstoday that "Spain, which lives on the impact of a suffocating diplomatic crisis, became the first trade partner of Morocco after knocking France away". According to the same sources: "the government in Madrid does not control the external policies based on principles or slogans, but only economic and commercial interests and privileges." French newspaper Le Monde published an article, criticising the Spanish attitude over the Sahara issue, considering it as provocative and not based on logic. The newspaper stated that: "Spain does not have a strategic vision towards Morocco, while France has a European vision of Morocco supporting relations in the European Commission.” The article added that: “Spain wanders in its policies towards Morocco. They talk about the need to develop Morocco economically, but do not hesitate to oppose many of the agreements in the European Parliament. " According to the newspaper, the authorities in Paris in their quest to monopolise the Moroccan market as a traditionally French market: "use Moroccan migration as a bridge with Morocco.” Spain is first trading partner of Morocco, it knocked France from that position during the past year, and its exports to the kingdom increased in 2012 to more than 5 billion Euros, rising from 3 million Euros in 2007. The increase in growth reached 72 percent. However Moroccan exports to Spain fell slightly registering two billion and 987 million Euros in 2007 and 2 billion and 956 million Euros in 2012. A group of Spanish companies established several deals in Morocco, especially in the field of communications, after Spanish company Telefonica acquired about 40 percent of the share of Meditel Company (The second largest telecommunications organisation in Morocco). More Spanish companies are to implement huge projects, especially in the construction of dams and infrastructure.