Morocco and Spain maintain extensive diplomatic, commercial, and military ties. The

Morocco–Spain border The Morocco–Spain border consists of three non-contiguous lines totalling 18.5 km (11.5 miles) around the Spanish territories of Ceuta (8 km; 5 miles), Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera (75 metres; 80 yards) and Melilla (10.5 km; 6½ ...

separates the

plazas de soberanía The (), meaning "strongholds of sovereignty", are a series of Spanish overseas territories scattered along the Mediterranean coast bordering Morocco, or that are closer to Africa than Europe. This term is used for those territories that have ...

(including

Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...

and

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

) on the Mediterranean coast from the Moroccan mainland. Morocco's foreign policy has focused on Western partners, including neighboring Spain. Relations have, however, been historically tense and conflictive.

History

Precedents

Middle Ages

Taking advantage of the disputes related to the struggle for control in the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

army led by Táriq ibn Ziyad crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in 711. This gave way to the

Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (; 711–720s), also known as the Arab conquest of Spain, was the Umayyad conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania in the early 8th century. The conquest resulted in the end of Christian rule in ...

. In the years to come, the Christian rulers fought or established political or commercial relations with the Muslim rulers, gaining control over the Iberian peninsula. Batalla de las navas-huelgas

In the Simancas battle (839) against the

Caliphate of Córdoba A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

, the

Kingdom of León The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 when the Christian princes of Kingdom of Asturias, Asturias along the Bay of Biscay, northern coast of the peninsula ...

gained control of the

Duero The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern part of the Meseta ...

in today´s

province of Valladolid Valladolid () is a province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 525,398 across a total of 225 municipalities, an area of , meaning a population density of 64.77 people ...

. This Caliphate lasted until its demise in the early 11th century and ensuing replacement by ephemeral Islamic statelets. The Almohad dynasty had conquered Marrakesh in 1147 and had taken over the

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almo ...

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

at the same time. The milestone of this period is the

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, known in Islamic history as the Battle of Al-Uqab (), took place on 16 July 1212 and was an important turning point in the ''Reconquista'' and the Spain in the Middle Ages, medieval history of Spain. The Christian ...

(1212) in which an array of Christian kingdoms supported the king of Castille against

Almohad Caliphate The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berbers, Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). Th ...

in the north of Jaén´s province. MoorandChristianBattle

Vowing to counter the Castilian expansion initiated by 1265, Nasrid Granada required assistance from Fez in late 1274 and ceded the places of

Algeciras Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of G ...

and

Tarifa Tarifa () is a Spanish municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located at the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula, it is primarily known as one of the world's most popular destinations for windsports. Tarifa lies on the Costa d ...

to the

Marinid Sultanate The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berbers, Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian P ...

, which thus gained a foothold in the southernmost end of the Iberian Peninsula which ended with the

battle of Río Salado The Battle of Río Salado also known as the Battle of Tarifa (30 October 1340) was a battle between the armies of King Afonso IV of Portugal and King Alfonso XI of Castile against those of Sultan Abu al-Hasan 'Ali of the Marinids and Yusuf ...

(1340), when the

king of Portugal This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portugal, Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Thro ...

and the king of Castille defeated both the Marinids and Nasrids. The last of the Muslim territories in the Iberian peninsula was the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, which surrendered to the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

in 1492 after the

Granada War The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat o ...

. Spanish jews were expelled, and many settled on the

Barbary Coast The Barbary Coast (also Barbary, Berbery, or Berber Coast) were the coastal regions of central and western North Africa, more specifically, the Maghreb and the Ottoman borderlands consisting of the regencies in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, a ...

Early modern period

As the Spanish and Portuguese empires divided the world by the ''

Treaty of Tordesillas The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian (geography) ...

'' (1492), these kingdoms established cities on the Moroccan coast such

(1497) by the Spanish or

(1415),

Mazagan El Jadida (, ) is a major port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, located south of the city of Casablanca, in the province of El Jadida and the region of Casablanca-Settat. It has a population of 170,956 as of 2023. The fortified city, buil ...

(1502) and

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

(1515) by the Portuguese. After the

battle of Alcácer Quibir The Battle of Alcácer Quibir (also known as "Battle of Three Kings" () or "Battle of Wadi al-Makhazin" () in Morocco) was fought in northern Morocco, near the town of Ksar-el-Kebir (variant spellings: ''Ksar El Kebir'', ''Alcácer-Quivir'', ...

(1578) the

Portuguese empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

was ruled by the

Spanish empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

monarchs too. Blamed for collaborating with the

Regency of Algiers The Regency of Algiers was an Early modern period, early modern semi-independent Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman province and nominal Tributary states of the Ottoman Empire, vassal state on the Barbary Coast of North Afr ...

(Ottoman empire) and the

Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...

which raided the spanish coasts and trading vessels for goods and slaves, some 40,000

Morisco ''Moriscos'' (, ; ; "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable Mus ...

s arrived to Morocco after their final expulsion in 1609. They were not well received in the Cherifian empire, as they dressed in the Spanish way, spoke Spanish and were accused of

conversion to Christianity Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person that brings about changes in what sociologists refer to as the convert's "root reality" including their social behaviors, thinking and ethics. The sociol ...

. The piracy harbour of the

Republic of Salé The Republic of Salé, also known as the Bou Regreg Republic and the Republic of the Two Banks, was a city-state maritime Barbary pirates, corsair republic based at Salé in Morocco during the 17th century, located at the mouth of the Bou Regre ...

on the

Bou Regreg The Bou Regreg () is a river located in western Morocco which discharges into the Atlantic Ocean between the cities of Rabat and Salé. The estuary of this river is termed Wadi Sala. The river is 240 kilometres long, with a tidal estuary of ap ...

river bank was founded by Moriscos from

Hornachos Hornachos is a municipality located in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2005 census ( INE), the municipality has a population of 3,840 inhabitants. History The first human settlements in the mountain range of Hornac ...

, today's Badajoz. During the 17th century Spain acquired

Larache Larache () is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast, where the Loukkos River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Larache is one of the most important cities of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region. Many civilisations and cultures have ...

(1610-1689) from Mohammed esh Sheikh el Mamun in exchange for the Spanish support in the internal struggles of the

Saadi sultanate The Saadi Sultanate (), also known as the Sharifian Sultanate (), was a state which ruled present-day Morocco and parts of Northwest Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was led by the Saadi dynasty, an Arab Sharifian dynasty. The dyna ...

against his brother

Zidan Abu Maali Zidan Abu Maali () (died September 1627; or Muley Zidan) was the embattled Saadi Sultan of Morocco from 1603 to 1627. He was the son and heir of Ahmad al-Mansur by his wife Lalla Aisha bint Abu Bakkar, a lady of the Chebanate tribe. He ruled on ...

. In 1689 it was seized by the troops of the Alaouite sultan

Ismail Ibn Sharif Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif (, – 22 March 1727) was a Sultan of Morocco from 1672 to 1727, as the second ruler of the 'Alawi dynasty. He was the seventh son of Sharif ibn Ali, Moulay Sharif and was governor of the province of Fez and the north o ...

. In 1612, Spanish privateers stole the Zaydani Library, a collection of an estimated 4,000 manuscripts in literature and science belonging to Sultan Zidan bin Ahmad of the

Saadi dynasty The Saadi Sultanate (), also known as the Sharifian Sultanate (), was a state which ruled present-day Morocco and parts of Northwest Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was led by the Saadi dynasty, an Arab Sharifism, Sharifian dynasty. ...

. These manuscripts are still kept at

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or (), is a historical residence of the king of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial, Madrid, El ...

Late modern period

During the wars between Spain and the

regency of Algiers The Regency of Algiers was an Early modern period, early modern semi-independent Administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman province and nominal Tributary states of the Ottoman Empire, vassal state on the Barbary Coast of North Afr ...

, the cherifien empire sieged the Spanish city of Ceuta on several occasions during the late 17th century and the 18th century with help from the

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

. Also, on 1774 Melilla was sieged by the moroccans. During the U.S. war of independence against the United Kingdom, in 1777 Mohamed III endorsed the Spanish and French recognition of the U.S., masterminded by the governor of

Spanish Louisiana Louisiana (, ), was a province of New Spain from 1762 to 1801. It was primarily located in the center of North America encompassing the western basin of the Mississippi River plus New Orleans. The area had originally been claimed and controlle ...

Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga (1717–1793), also known as Louis Unzaga y Amezéga le Conciliateur, Luigi de Unzaga Panizza and Lewis de Onzaga, was governor of Spanish Louisiana from late 1769 to mid-1777, as well as a Captain General of Venezuela ...

. On 1780 Spain and Morocco signed the '' Treaty of Aranjuez'' regarding trade between the nations. However Ceuta was sieged again on 1790-1791. La Paz de Wad-Ras

Also, Spain occupied

Tétouan Tétouan (, or ) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about E.S.E. of Tangier. In the 2014 Morocc ...

from 1859 to 1862 according to the ''

Treaty of Wad Ras The Treaty of Wad Ras (, ) was a treaty signed between Morocco and Spain at the conclusion of the Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–60), War of Tetuan on April 26, 1860, at Wad Ras, located between Tétouan, Tetuan and Tangier. The conditions of the ...

'' (1860), after

Abd al-Rahman Abdelrahman or Abd al-Rahman or Abdul Rahman or Abdurrahman or Abdrrahman ( or occasionally ; DMG ''ʿAbd ar-Raḥman'') is a male Arabic Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' ...

found himself unable to control the moroccan

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

s which raided Ceuta´s

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...

. As a result, Melilla´s perimeter was also broadened and the sultan recognized the Spanish right to establish a fishing port in Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña (a territory of uncertain location by that time) identified then where

Sidi Ifni Sidi Ifni (Berber: ''Ifni'', ⵉⴼⵏⵉ, ) is a city located on the west coast of Morocco, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, with a population of 20,051 people. The economic base of the city is fishing. It is located in Guelmim-Oued Noun regio ...

now stands. In the 1860 battle of Tetuan, the ''

Mellah A ''mellah'' ( or 'saline area'; and ) is the place of residence historically assigned to Jewish communities in Morocco. The urban ''mellah'', as it exists in numerous cities and large towns, is a Jewish quarter enclosed by a wall and a fortifi ...

'', or Jewish quarter, of Tetuan was sacked. This was followed by appeals in the European Jewish press to support Jewish communities like the one in Tetuan, leading to an international effort called ''The Morocco Relief Fund,'' in English. After Morocco paid the

war reparations War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war. War reparations can take the form of hard currency, precious metals, natural resources, in ...

(partially through money lent by the British), in 1862 the spanish general

Leopoldo O'Donnell Leopoldo O'Donnell y Jorris, 1st Duke of Tetuán, GE (12 January 1809 – 5 November 1867), was a Spanish general and Grandee who was Prime Minister of Spain on several occasions. Early life He was born at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Cana ...

retired his troops from Tétouan. After 1863, a Spanish diplomatic mission led by Francisco Merry y Colom was sent to the court of the Moroccan Sultan in Marrakesh, with the specific goals of the rehabilitation of Muley El-Abbás, the sultan's hispanophile brother, the fostering of commercial activity in Ceuta and Melilla by means of the creation of a custom, the opening of the Port of

Agadir Agadir (, ; ) is a major List of cities in Morocco, city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Sous River, Souss River flows into the ocean, and south of Casabla ...

to Spanish ships, facilitating the meat provision to Ceuta, and the improvement on the status of Spaniards in Morocco, establishing the basis for the

peacetime Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such a ...

commercial and diplomatic relations of Spain with the Sherifian Empire. In the wake of the visit of a Spanish delegation to Fez in 1877, a joint Hispano-Moroccan committee was created to determine the location of the territory of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña, retroceded in the 1860 Treaty of Wad Ras. This committee eventually misidentified Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña with

Ifni The Territory of Ifni () was a Spanish province on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, south of Agadir and across from the Canary Islands. It had a total area of , and a population of 51,517 in 1964. The main industry was fishing. The present-day Mor ...

, actually located about north of the real fortress. The Moroccan sultan accepted the identification in 1883, even if the border delimitation did not take place at the time and the effective Spanish occupation had to wait until 1934. In 1905, a group of Sephardic Jews of Fes sent a letter in vernacular

Moroccan Arabic Moroccan Arabic ( ), also known as Darija ( or ), is the dialectal, vernacular form or forms of Arabic spoken in Morocco. It is part of the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum and as such is mutually intelligible to some extent with Algerian ...

(Darija) written in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

letters to

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

, King of Spain, asking him to establish a Spanish school in the mellah of Fes and to protect their community, which they described as descendants of Spain and therefore his subjects. The Spanish Protectorate over Morocco was established 27 November 1912 by decree of the

Treaty Between France and Spain Regarding Morocco The Treaty between France and Spain regarding Morocco was signed on 27 November 1912 by French and Spanish heads of state, establishing ''de jure'' a Spanish Zone of influence in northern and southern Morocco, both zones being '' de facto'' unde ...

. Relative to France, which was assigned control over most of the Moroccan State, Spain ended up with a small territory in northern Morocco, largely mountainous and not easily accessible, and to which the

Cape Juby Cape Juby (, trans. ''Raʾs Juby'', ) is a cape on the coast of southern Morocco, near the border with Western Sahara, directly east of the Canary Islands. Its surrounding area, including the cities of Tarfaya and Tan-Tan, is called the C ...

strip, a small strip of land in Southern Morocco, bordering with the

Spanish Sahara Spanish Sahara (; ), officially the Spanish Possessions in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958, then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was occupied and ruled by Spain bet ...

added up. The city of Tangier became an international zone.

Contemporary relations

Moroccan territorial claims on Spanish cities of Ceuta, Melilla, territorial Canary Islands water and Plazas de Soberanía

On 6 July 2002 Spanish military operations in the Alhucemas Islands were perceived to be an act of aggression by Morocco. On 11 July 2002, the

Perejil Island crisis The Perejil Island crisis (; ) was a bloodless armed conflict between Spain and Morocco that took place on 11–18 July 2002. The incident took place over the small, uninhabited Perejil Island, when a squad of the Royal Moroccan Navy occupied it. ...

erupted; members of the

Royal Moroccan Navy The Royal Moroccan Navy of Morocco () is a branch of the military of Morocco responsible for conducting naval operations. The Royal Moroccan Navy is administratively managed by the Administration of Defence, which is (''de facto'') commanded b ...

occupied the uninhabited Perejil Island off the North-African coast; 6 days later Spain launched the "Operation Romeo-Sierra" and 28 members of the Special Operations Groups of the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

took control of the islet evicting the 6 Moroccan cadets then present in the islet, who offered no resistance. On 31 July-1 August 2018 Morocco indefinitely closed the Beni Ansar Customs near Melilla aiming to suffocate trade in the Spanish city. On 21 December 2020, following the affirmations of the Moroccan Prime Minister,

Saadeddine Othmani Saadeddine Othmani (; ; born 16 January 1956), sometimes translated as Saad Eddine el-Othmani, is a Moroccan politician. He served as the 16th prime minister of Morocco from 17 March 2017 to 7 October 2021. Previously he served as foreign minist ...

, stating that Ceuta and Melilla "are as Moroccan as the estern

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

" Spain's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

Cristina Gallach Cristina Gallach (born 1960) is a Spanish journalist and former European Union and United Nations official. She was the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Spain), Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and for Ibero-America and the Caribbean ...

urgently summoned the Moroccan Ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, to convey that Spain expects respect from all its partners to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its country and asked for explanations about the words of Othmani. The two neighbours also have an unresolved dispute concerning territorial waters between Morocco and the Spanish

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

in the Atlantic Ocean.

Western Sahara's political status

Morocco invaded the Spanish Sahara in the

Green March The Green March was a strategic mass demonstration in November 1975, coordinated by the Moroccan government and military, to force Spain to hand over the disputed, autonomous semi-metropolitan province of Spanish Sahara to Morocco. The Spani ...

in November 1975, and the

Madrid Accords The Madrid Accords, formally the Declaration of Principles on Western Sahara, was a treaty between Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania setting out six principles which would end the Spanish presence in the territory of Spanish Sahara and arrange a ...

later ended the Spanish administration over the Western Sahara. During the November 2020 SARD blockage of the N-1 road between Morocco and Mauritania, Spanish former Second Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias backed the SARD´s referendum´s arguments, clashing with the official position of the government expressed by Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs

Arancha González Laya María Aránzazu "Arancha" González Laya (born 22 May 1969) is a Spanish lawyer who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation in the Spanish government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez from 2020 to 2021. Currently, G ...

. On 22 April 2021, Spanish officials had announced that the Polisario Front leader

Brahim Ghali Brahim Ghali () (, born 19 August 1949) is a Sahrawi politician, military officer and current president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), formerly its ambassador to Algeria and Spain. Ghali played a key role in the struggle of th ...

was sent to Spain for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

hospitalization. Morocco reacted with several reciprocal and retaliatory measures, including granting the pro-Catalan independence politician

Carles Puigdemont Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. He has been the President of Together for Catalonia (Junts) since 2024, having previously held the office from 2020 to 2022. He served ...

asylum on 30 April. On 14 March 2022, Sánchez sent a letter to King Mohammed VI backing Morocco's

Western Sahara Autonomy Proposal The Western Sahara Autonomy Proposal is an initiative proposed by Morocco since 2007 to establish a Sahara Autonomous Region as a possible solution to the Western Sahara conflict. In 2006, the Moroccan Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs ( ...

. This was a change in the official position about

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

as the solution to the

Western Sahara conflict The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic/Polisario Front and the Morocco, Kingdom of Morocco. The conflict originated from an insurgency by the Polisario Front against Spanish colonial ...

. His decision was criticized by Unidas Podemos and the Spanish opposition. Sánchez visited Morocco in April 2022 and participated in an

iftar ''Iftar'' () is the Fasting in Islam, fast-breaking Supper, evening meal of Muslims in Ramadan at the time of ' (call to prayer) of the Maghrib prayer. Iftar is the second meal of the day; during Ramadan, the daily fast begins immediately a ...

with Mohammed VI and members of his entourage.

Illegal immigration

Morocco has received €343 million since 2018 to help it counter illegal migration. On 17 May 2021, approximately 8,000 migrants crossed the Moroccan–Spanish border into Ceuta and Melilla passing around the

jetties A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signif ...

of Benzú and El Tarajal, after Moroccan security forces lessened control mechanisms following the hospitalization of Brahim Ghali in Spain. The Spanish military was deployed at the border to stop the influx. Morocco's actions were rejected by various officials of the European Union. In a cryptic manner, the Moroccan ambassador warned that "there are acts that have consequences and must be assumed", just before being recalled by the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

on 18 June, in turn shortly after she was summoned by the Spanish foreign minister. European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas warned that Europe would not "be intimidated by anyone on the subject of migration". The Moroccan move was described as an instance of coercive engineered migration and a case of grey zone operation, similarly to other asymmetrical challenges posed by Morocco underpinned by incremental and ambiguous measures below the threshold of war. On 22 June 2023,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

accused authorities at the Melilla border of "exonerat ngtheir security forces" during the 2022 Melilla incident. Both countries were reported to have further agreed to cooperate on repatriations of illegal migrants. As of April 2024, the Spanish government was conducting preparations to transfer the management of airspace to Morocco, after decades of it being managed by a state-owned company organized under the Spanish Ministry of Transport and operating from the air traffic control center in the

Trade agreements

In the past, the failure to reach a deal for fisheries between the European Union and Morocco in 2001 complicated the relations between

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...

and Mohammed VI. Morocco's Tanger Med port will pose competition that concerns Spanish ports. It was expected to achieve full capacity in 2014 at 5.5 million containers annually.Alexis Arieff
"Morocco: Current Issues"

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

(30 June 2011). At a February 2023 summit in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

attended by Pedro Sánchez and

Aziz Akhannouch Aziz Akhannouch (, ; born 16 August 1961) is a Moroccan politician, businessman, and billionaire who is serving as the 17th Prime Minister of Morocco since 7 October 2021. He is the CEO of Akwa Group and also served as Minister of Agriculture fro ...

, Spain and Morocco subsequently signed a series of multiple agreements to boost trade and investment, including credit lines of up to 800 million euros ($873 million).

Counterterrorrism and counternarcotics cooperation

Both countries have shared interests in

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...

and counternarcotics. Morocco notably assisted Spanish authorities in the investigation of the 2004 bombings in Madrid and this relationship continues. Moroccan soldiers have served under Spanish command in the

United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (), also known as MINUSTAH, an acronym of its French name, was a UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti from 2004 to 2017. It was composed of 2,366 military personnel and 2,533 police, supported by int ...

and Moroccan

gendarmes A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...

have joined Spanish patrols to combat illegal immigration in the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

Moroccan legal residents in Spain

According to the 2021 INE statistics, Moroccans are the largest immigration community in Spain with 930,221 citizens residing in the country. Moroccans in Spain live mainly in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

Resident diplomatic missions

;of Morocco in Spain *

(Embassy) *

(Consulate-General) *

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

(Consulate-General) *

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

(Consulate-General) *

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

(Consulate-General) *

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

(Consulate-General) *

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

(Consulate-General) *

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

(Consulate-General) *

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

(Consulate-General) *

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

(Consulate-General) ;of Spain in Morocco *

(Embassy) *

(Consulate-General) *

Nador Nador () is a coastal city and provincial capital in the northeastern Rif region of Morocco with a population of about 158,202 (2024 census). The Nador Province has over 600,000 inhabitants. Nador is considered the second largest city in the Ori ...

(Consulate-General) *

Tanger Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Morocco. Many civ ...

(Consulate-General) * Tetuan (Consulate-General) *

(Consulate) File:Embajada de Marruecos, Madrid.jpg, Embassy of Morocco in Madrid File:MarokkoGeneralkonsulat Algeciras 20181123 10.jpg, Consulate-General of Morocco in Algeciras File:2017 Moroccan Consulate, Barcelona 01.jpg, Consulate-General in Barcelona File:Larache Spanish Consulate.jpg, Consulate-General of Spain in Larache

Common history

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

Caliphate of Cordoba A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the enti ...

* Taifa of Ceuta (in Ceuta and Tangier) *

Almoravid Empire The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almoh ...

Almohad Empire The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). The Almohad ...

* Benimerin Empire *

Spanish protectorate in Morocco The Spanish protectorate in Morocco was established on 27 November 1912 by a treaty between France and Spain that converted the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco into a formal protectorate. The Spanish protectorate consisted of a norther ...

(1912-1956) *

(1884-1976) *

(1860-1969) *

Tangier International Zone The Tangier International Zone (; ; ) was a international zone centered on the city of Tangier, Morocco, which existed from 1925 until its reintegration into independent Morocco in 1956, with interruption during the Spanish occupation of Tang ...

(1940-1945)

References

;Informational notes ;Citations {{DEFAULTSORT:Morocco-Spain relations

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Bilateral relations of Spain Relations of colonizer and former colony

History

Precedents

Middle Ages

Early modern period

Late modern period

Contemporary relations

Moroccan territorial claims on Spanish cities of Ceuta, Melilla, territorial Canary Islands water and Plazas de Soberanía

Western Sahara's political status

Illegal immigration

Trade agreements

Counterterrorrism and counternarcotics cooperation

Moroccan legal residents in Spain

Resident diplomatic missions

Common history

See also

References