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In the last couple of months, Spain sent an increased number of its senior officials to Morocco to discuss shared interests and issues.
Indeed, since the appointment of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, several Spanish ministers and high ranked officials flew to Morocco, in a very short period, to address topics related to migration, security, and the European Union.
The last Spanish official to visit Rabat is Justice Minister Dolores Delgado, reports EFE. Delgado is meeting on Tuesday, October the 30th, her Moroccan counterpart Mohamed Aujjar, the president of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary Mustafa Fares and Public prosecutor, Mohamed Abdennabaoui.
Two ministers in less than a week
According to Spanish online newspaper Confidential Judicial, Aujjar and Delgado will be discussing the idea of «granting Spanish citizenship to Moroccan immigrants».
But two days before Delgado’s official visit to the Kingdom, Spain’s Foreign Minister held talks with his counterpart Nasser Bourita. During the weekend, Josep Borrell participated to the World Policy Conference, held from the 26th to the 28th of October in Rabat, where he discussed the main challenges of the international community.
Alongside Nasser Bourita, Borrell touched upon the common interests of the two countries, promising «to further deepen the excellent relations between Spain and Morocco, especially in the strategic field». They also agreed to continue promoting partnership between the EU and Morocco and between Europe and Africa.
Migration and borders with Melilla
A few weeks before that, a Spanish delegation made it to Essaouira to address the migration crisis, involving Rabat and Madrid.
To overcome the situation, the two Spanish Secretaries of State for Migration and Security held talks on the 14th of September, with a series of Moroccan officials.
The two secretaries, Ana Botella and Consuelo Rumi, met migration and border surveillance director Khalid Zerouali. In details, the senior officials spoke about issues related to border surveillance, and the fight against migrant smuggling and human trafficking.
This meeting was proceeded by a different one attended by Spain’s Director General of Customs Maria Pilar Jurado. The latter met on September the 13th her Moroccan counterpart in Rabat. The two officials agreed, by the end of their meeting, to «collaborate in order to improve the way in which people work in Melilla».
The meeting held in the capital was the first of its kind, after the Moroccan authorities decided to «unilaterally» close the customs office near Melilla, on August the 1st.
These visits come at a mement when Morocco is dealing multiple issues that involve its Iberian neighbor, including migration, borders with Melilla, and security among others.
It is worthy to mention that Morocco is still waiting for Pedro Sanchez’ visit which has been delayed several times in the last couple of months.
