The government provides details on the agreements reached with the parties, including what is being negotiated with Morocco. Information about these talks is kept confidential from the opposition. The government claims that publishing such material could provoke Rabat.
The Foreign Ministry refused to hand over the agreements signed with Morocco at the Rabat summit last February to opposition lawmakers. They formally asked the PP through parliament on 17 May and received no reply. With the electoral process underway and the Cortes dissolved, the petition expired, and unofficial channels did not yield a response either.
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares denies the allegations. On Tuesday, PP leader Alberto Núñez accused Feijóo of launching a hoax, asserting that the agreements between Spain and Morocco were unknown. Albares summoned him to read the documents on the Moncloa website, where they are said to be mirrored.
The official site reportedly contains brief notes prepared by the communications teams, summarizing the agreements as a Memorandum of Understanding according to the notes themselves. As of this article, the memorandums are not publicly published, according to checks with this newspaper and diplomatic sources and with Moncloa. The documents are what the opposition demands, according to Pilar Rojo, spokesperson for the PP Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a report to El Periódico de España of the Prensa Ibérica group.
What was released in full was the Joint Declaration between Morocco and Spain after the Rabat summit. The government describes it as a 12-page document with 74 articles. It reiterates support for the Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara but also notes that it does not include commitments that would touch on sensitive areas of sovereignty for either country.
The specifics of the deals are sensitive. The Memorandum of Understanding on migration management, signed after deaths at the Melilla border, and issues such as maritime restrictions affecting where Spanish vessels fish or where Morocco can search for gas or oil are frequently cited as delicate topics.
For example, Minister of Agriculture Luis Planas signed a Memorandum of Understanding with his Moroccan counterpart to cooperate in health and the development of animal and plant production. Yet fishing and agriculture remain controversial in Morocco. The EU General Court has invalidated agreements allowing imports from Western Sahara’s Dakhla region without consent from the Saharawi representatives, the Polisario Front. Spain and Morocco are reportedly preparing two more memoranda on marine fisheries, aquaculture, and measures to curb illegal fishing and agriculture.
airspace management
The Government justifies the cautious language following a high-level meeting by saying it should not harm foreign relations. This is in line with the State Department’s response to the newspaper’s request for information through the Transparency Portal. El Periódico de España sought updates on the Spain-Morocco roadmap signed on 7 April and the RAN agreements dated 1 and 2 February for air and sea space. There is particular interest in the working group on delimiting marine areas along the Atlantic coast and in the possibility of Spain handing over part of its airspace control over the Sahara to Morocco.
The delimitation of territorial seas between Spain and Morocco is a critical issue. Each state claims certain zones up to 22 kilometers from its coast and an Exclusive Economic Zone up to 370 miles, with overlaps off the Canary Islands and Morocco creating a major dispute. Morocco wants to redraw this framework, potentially including waters off Western Sahara. It remains unclear what limits Spain is pushing in these talks.
Officials warn that statements from high-level meetings may influence reactions abroad and could strain bilateral relations with other governments, particularly the Moroccan government, when information is disclosed under transparency laws and related governance rules.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s team emphasizes discretion in negotiations while keeping diplomats moving. In other sensitive talks, such as those with the United Kingdom over Gibraltar within the EU framework, documents are public in some cases, but the current negotiations around New Year agreements or the transfer of negotiating authority to Brussels have not followed that pattern.
Another contentious area is the management of airspace over Western Sahara, a region Morocco regards as its own. Spain maintains control over air operations in the area, a position linked to historical agreements and UN doctrine. Some MPs have questioned whether the transfer of airspace management to Morocco is under negotiation. Officials have stated that while discussions are ongoing, the exact scope is not fully clarified.
In this context, Western Sahara’s status remains a sensitive matter. Morocco has asserted claim to the territory, while Spain has historically engaged in a path toward decolonization with ongoing commitments to maintain certain air control until a lasting solution is found. The current discussions have drawn scrutiny from parliament amid questions about ongoing negotiations and the degree of transparency in sharing related documents.