Settling this conflict, which "has lasted for decades", will have "positive effects" on the peoples and countries directly concerned and on the states of the Mediterranean region, Montilla said at a press conference at the end of his three-day visit to Morocco.

   The dispute over the former Spanish colony dates back to 1976 when the separatist movement Polisario started claiming the independence of the territory that was ceded to Morocco a year earlier under the Madrid Accord.

    Morocco and Polisario have so far held four rounds of UN-sponsored negotiations in Manhasset (outskirts of New York) with a view to putting an end to this dispute. A fifth round is expected, but no date has been set so far.

    The Spanish official, who heads a large business delegation to Morocco, stressed that the settlement of this issue will help “eliminate and reduce tension and improve the security situation" in the region.

     During his talks, earlier today, with the Moroccan Premier, Abbas El Fassi, the Spanish official expressed Catalonia’s will to strengthen cooperation with Morocco in the economic, commercial and cultural fields, calling for a quick solution to the Sahara issue, which, he said, would benefit the whole region and the Mediterranean.

    Mr.El Fassi said that “Morocco has recovered its occupied land by stages” and that it “has recovered its sovereignty over the southern provinces, within the framework of international legality”, stressing in this regard that "the Moroccanity of the Sahara is irreversible and cannot be the subject of bargaining."

    The international community, he went on, has become aware of the reality of the artificial conflict in the region,  and expressed understanding of the legitimacy of the Moroccan stance vis–à-vis this issue.