Morocco Distinguishes between Friendship of Spanish People and Nuisance of Some Political Circles, Foreign Ministry Says

Morocco has always made a clear distinction between, on the one hand, the Spanish population, and on the other hand, some political and civil society circles which seek to instrumentalize the Moroccan Sahara issue and undermine the interests of Morocco, the ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad said Monday in a statement on the crisis between Morocco and Spain. “In this serious Moroccan-Spanish crisis, Morocco has always made a clear distinction between, on the one hand, the Spanish population and some far-sighted political leaders who value friendship with Morocco and good neighbourliness, and on the other hand, certain political, governmental, media and civil society circles which seek to instrumentalize the Moroccan Sahara issue and undermine the interests of Morocco,” the ministry said, adding that “these are the people who, in the comfort of their outdated reflexes, continue to see Morocco with anachronistic perspectives, without renouncing the hints of archaism inherited from the past.” “Morocco has, moreover and obviously, no problem with the Spanish people, its citizens, its economic stakeholders, its cultural actors and its tourists, who are warmly welcomed as friends and neighbours in Morocco,” the ministry pointed out, adding that some Spanish citizens even work at the Moroccan Royal Palace long before the birth of His Majesty the King and Their Royal Highnesses, the Princes and Princesses. “This is to say, in fact, how much Morocco does not give up on the density and solidity of human ties between Morocco and Spain,” the ministry stressed, adding that Morocco will remain attached to its “natural and genuine” ties of friendship with the Spanish people.