Did a Spanish military delegation visit Lagouira ?

A Spanish military delegation has visited Mauritania. Yesterday, its official news agency AMI announced that the Spanish army chief, Chief of the Defense Staff Fernando Alejandro Martinez, was received in Nouakchott by the Mauritanian Minister of Defense Diallo Mamadou Bathia. «They have discussed ways of collaboration between the two countries in their meeting, particularly in the field of defense», said the same source.

This morning, online newspaper Anbaa.info stated that the Spanish and Mauritanian military, led by General Martinez and his counterpart Mohamed Sheikh Mohamed Ahmed (Ould El Ghazouani), who is very close to President Ould Abdel Aziz, have been to Lagouira in a brief trip. The same source did not give more details about this visit.

There was no visit to Lagouira

Contacted by Yabiladi, a well-informed source said that «no Spanish military delegation has visited Lagouira on Tuesday, 6th of March. The Spanish know perfectly that the area is sensitive for Morocco». The same source also added that is not in the «need, especially now, of creating tension».

On the other hand, the same source stressed that the talks held between the two parties were mainly focusing on the possible means to fight against immigration networks in the region. For the record, the Spanish Interior Minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido, visited on February the 12th Nouakchott where he met with the his Mauritanian counterpart, Ahmedou Ould Abdellah.

Spain, indeed, has been experiencing a massive arrival of migrants since 2006, coming from the Mauritanian and Senegalese coast to the Canary Island. The European Union country has also sent to Mauritania twenty elements of the Guardia Civil who carried out patrols on land and sea while a helicopter took care of the air missions. Police officers are also deployed in Nouadhibou, the city from which migrants use boats to reach the Canary Islands, said El Pais.