The rapprochement of Spain with Morocco undertaken by the Government of Pedro Sánchez has borne some fruit, such as a reduction in the number of migrants arriving via the routes leaving the Maghreb country. There are other important issues that are set and landed in the roadmap agreed between both governments, such as the opening of customs in Ceuta and Melilla or the demarcation of waters between the Canary Islands and Morocco.
Here in this context, “The first president of Morocco” in Spain, as described at the University of Salamanca by diplomatic and university representatives at a presentation ceremony held this Wednesday at Casa Árabe in Madrid. It will be led by Rachid El Hour, Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies, and will promote research, seminars and exchanges.
The delegations of the two countries, Pedro Sánchez’s King of Morocco VI. According to diplomatic sources from both countries, they say the “president” is the tangible and clear result of the training agreement that emerged from the High Level Meeting (RAN) held in Rabat on February 1 and 2.
“Many insist on building walls of incomprehension”Moroccan ambassador in Spain, Karima Benyaichadvocating the education of young people to defeat them. “We opened a new stage with RAN. […] has deep strategic and multidimensional relations between the two countries.” “Spain and Morocco are on the right track,” the Spanish diplomat said. Alberto UcelayDirector General of the Maghreb, the Mediterranean and the Near East, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Maghreb expert added that both countries have a “common border”, but also have a “common vision”, “shared millennial roots” and “interests that push both countries to understand each other”.
The tone of the presentation contradicts the diplomatic confrontation that occurred in 2021. In May of the same year, Rabat called Karima Benyaich for consultations and left the ambassadorial post in Madrid vacant. He was protesting the Spanish Government’s decision to provide medical assistance to Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali, who was then covid ill. Ghali is the president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in exile in refugee camps in Algeria and At war with Morocco over the territory of Western Saharawhich Spain surrendered in the Madrid Accords of 1975.
Improvements to student visas
Spain and Morocco signed a series of agreements (memorandum of understanding in diplomatic jargon) in February this year in areas such as security, trade, immigration, science or education. Despite the demands of the interlocutors to the government, the details of the memorandum were not disclosed to the public. Special, Memorandum of Understanding on University Cooperation was signed, Where this new “Moroccan chair” of the University of Salamanca is framed.
In the joint declaration, Morocco and Spain also agreed to “strengthen their cooperation to promote student mobility”. The Spanish side promised to examine measures to simplify administrative procedures for Moroccan students to come to Spain. Rabat complains about the difficulties its young people have in obtaining visas that allow them to study at Spanish universities. It is an average of 5,000 people per year. Search for more visaseasier to obtain and longer to obtain (three years instead of one).