Spain confirms that it is holding talks with Morocco

During the past two years, two meetings were held with Morocco to discuss the management of Sahara airspace, as the Spanish Executive Directorate explained in response to a question from the representative of the Canaries coalition, Cristina Valledo, who demanded to know the content of the agreement. Agreements concluded with Morocco “to transfer the management of the existing airspace between the autonomous community of the Canary Islands and the territory of Western Sahara.”

And in this response European press The Spanish government recalled that point 7 of the joint declaration between Spain and Morocco, signed on April 7, 2022 in Rabat, had announced the start of “discussions on airspace management.” He explained that on this basis, “a working group on air cooperation was established, which has met twice since then, in order to improve cooperation between the two parties.”

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The Spanish executive official said, “The working group focused on technical cooperation, information and communications in the airspace, as well as its security and management,” stressing that Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarez and President Pedro Sanchez, during their recent visits, reaffirmed, to Morocco, in December 2023 and February 2024. respectively, their agreement to maintain this working group.

In response to a parliamentary question in March 2023, the Spanish government confirmed that this issue was under discussion with Morocco, explaining that the exchanges aimed to coordinate airspace management “between the two parties” in order to “ensure greater security.” For its part, Morocco wants, without declaring it publicly, to regain control of the airspace over the Sahara, which is currently administered from the Canary Islands.