 Spain's new position on the Moroccan Sahara has "pulverized" the "nicely woven and conspiracy-based" narrative used by some Spanish media hostile to Morocco, said strategic studies expert Lahcen Haddad.
"The decision of the Spanish government on March 18, 2022 to recognize Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara and to declare that the autonomy initiative proposed by Morocco is credible and constitutes a solid basis for a solution to the Sahara conflict has provoked the anger of many journalists and media in Spain," Mr. Haddad noted in an op-ed published by the news website "Moroccowordnews.com".
Under the title: "The Spanish media and the bankruptcy of the anti-Moroccan discourse", the author explains that "the anti-Moroccan reflex of these opinion leaders comes from an atavistic anti-Moorish attitude that has settled in the psyche of some Spaniards over centuries, since the Muslim conquest (in the eighth century) until the Reconquista (13th-15th centuries).
The academic recalled, in this regard, a series of historical facts that tend to annoy critics of strengthening relations between Madrid and Rabat.
"Political dialogue with Morocco is possible; the partnership could be raised to higher levels," said Haddad, stressing that "trade with Sebta and Melilla will reopen; Andalusia will continue to benefit from high-end tourism from wealthy Moroccan tourists.
He added that "more than a thousand Spanish companies will continue to earn money in Morocco; more than three million Moroccans will continue to cross Spain to return home in summer. And more than 700,000 Moroccans will continue to contribute to the reconstruction of the Spanish economy after years of low growth.
"This is too much for the prophets of doom who prefer animosity and tension to good neighborliness and mutually beneficial partnership," he wrote before rejoicing that this narrative has been "belied by the forces of the future on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar.
But, according to the expert, "more should be done to make this process inevitably irreversible".
"Hope is the best antidote not only to the atavistic anti-Moroccanism but also the best thing we can do for the generations on both sides of the Mediterranean who aspire to peace in a world plagued by war, conflicts and terror," said the author of the forum before concluding that "the antidote to racism anti-'moro' tacit, hidden sectarianism, fear of the other, is hope, shared prosperity and lasting peace.
-News on the Western Sahara/Corcas
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