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In Spain, opposition is mounting against the project to transfer control of Sahrawi airspace to Morocco. Following revelations in the Iberian media about secret meetings between Rabat and Madrid on this topic, mobilization has intensified.
Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Popular Party (PP) warn of the potential loss of 372 air traffic controller jobs at the Gando Control Center in the Canary Islands if Spain cedes control to Morocco. This figure was announced following a meeting on March 7 between PP parliamentarians and air traffic controller representatives.
The air traffic controllers deplored their exclusion from the negotiations between Morocco and Spain. They reportedly did not receive any information on this subject from the director of Enaire, the public company responsible for air traffic control.
Parallel to this mobilization by PP deputies, Senator Victor Armas from the regionalist party of El Hierro, which advocates for the island's independence, has also addressed questions to the government regarding this project.
Opposition to Sahrawi airspace transfer grows
El Independiente reports that Pedro Sanchez's allies in government and parliament are not united on the transfer of control of Sahrawi airspace. Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources within the far-left Sumar coalition expressed their opposition. «We reject Moroccan sovereignty over the entire Western Sahara territory, its territorial waters and its airspace», they said.
The Canarian Coalition, a party that voted for Pedro Sanchez's premiership, also opposes the plan. Anonymously, a party representative pointed out that «a transfer that disregards international law and UN resolutions» is unacceptable. However, neither party has made their support for Sanchez conditional on ending discussions with Rabat.
Spain's Foreign Ministry told El Independiente that «Spain and Morocco have begun negotiations on airspace management cooperation, including air traffic safety and communications».
For the record, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares publicly confirmed negotiations on Western Sahara's airspace control. «There's a public point in the joint declaration [of April 7, 2022] about improving management, and that's what we're doing», he said in a mid-January interview with El Periodico de España. Point 7 of the Moroccan-Spanish Joint Declaration announces the initiation of «discussions concerning airspace management» between the two countries.
The mobilization against this project is similar to the opposition that united right-wing, far-left, and Catalan and Basque separatist groups against Pedro Sanchez's support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
