The strategy Spain Africa 2025-2028 omits the former province 53 in full Moroccan diplomatic offensive
the word Sahara appears only twice in Spain Africa 2025-2028. Working together through a strategic relationship, a 96-page document prepared by the Government of Spain that should guide our country’s action on the neighboring continent during the next three years. The first mention, of a geographical nature, is on page 12, in the Introduction: “Until now, the strategic documents prepared by Spain were limited to Africa south of the Sahara.” The second appears on page 37, in the heading “Our African neighborhood: West Africa, the Sahel and North Africa.” There it is said that “in the Sahel, the climatic and geographical transition zone south of the Sahara Desert, the great challenges facing the continent are concentrated to a greater extent and with greater intensity than in any other African region.” .
And nothing more.
With a decolonization process pending completion and a Moroccan diplomatic offensive that targets almost all attacks in the dispute over the sovereignty of the territory of the former Spanish colony – the last exception was the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU, which ruled in October that the fishing and agricultural agreements between Brussels and Rabat were not valid because they did not respect the right of self-determination of the Sahrawi people (see MN 708, pp. 6-7) – the silence that covers Western Sahara. When consulted by this magazine, Cristina Martínez Benítez de Lugo, a participant in the Movement for Saharawi Political Prisoners, indicates by email that “the plan, which for the first time is going to deal with northwest Africa, has lost the opportunity to make a minimal allusion to Western Sahara. In his opinion, this is “a serious omission, given Spain’s commitment to its former colony, of which it is still the administrative power, and the enormous responsibility that Spain has in the occupation of the Sahrawi territory by Morocco.”
Morocco and Mauritania, the other two signatory States of the Madrid Tripartite Agreement, in which the bases for the future of the former province 53 were established, are cited 13 and 21 times, respectively, in the document. Alfonso Masoliver insists on this idea. In a voice note sent to this newsroom, the journalist makes a list of silences and mentions: «Western Sahara is not mentioned even once, while Morocco is mentioned, Libya is mentioned, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt is even mentioned, I think. ten times. However, Western Sahara, which is Spain’s greatest responsibility on the African continent, is not there.
In addition to being striking, “that clamorous silence about the Sahara gives them away (to the Spanish Government). “You cannot wish for a peaceful and secure Africa and at the same time promote an occupation,” adds Martínez Benítez de Lugo.
A silence. But he is not the only one.
Other scenarios
The strategic document Spain Africa 2025-2028 contemplates the strengthening of ties with African partners, paying special attention to the north and west of the continent. In this context, the emphasis that the Spanish Government places on ECOWAS, the West African bloc, is understood, whose president, Omar Alieu Touray, participated in the presentation of the document. However, due to this emphasis, the lack of specificity regarding the Alliance of Sahel States, which have constituted the military governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, is striking. What germinated as an occasional bloc after the military uprisings that took place in these three countries, is mutating into a regional union of a political and economic nature that could culminate in a schism in ECOWAS, from which the three countries have already announced their departure. desire to go out. Regarding the new regional agent, the Spanish strategic plan limits itself to describing the situation of “the countries of the Central Sahel that have experienced an increase in instability that has culminated in coups d’état and have formed an Alliance of Sahel States that prioritizes ties in the field of security with Russia and other actors. There is no progress regarding what the strategy of Spanish diplomacy may be with the Governments of Bamako, Ouagadougou and Niamey.
Another striking silence has to do with one of the key areas for Spain, the Niger Delta, where a good part of the oil we import comes from (see MN 699, pp. 26-31). Masoliver points out that “it is not mentioned at any point in the document either, despite the fact that it is a place where there are murders, guerrillas, violence, pollution at industrial levels due to the dumping of crude oil in fields and aquatic areas. Although it indicates that it is going to promote clean and green energy and facilitate energy transitions on the African continent, it does not say a single word about the largest African environmental catastrophe, which is the Niger Delta, which is strange to say the least. ».
100 measurements
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, presented Spain Africa 2025-2028 last December 5th. The event was attended by, among others, the Mauritanian president, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, and the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, who is finishing his last weeks in office. Senegal, one of the priority countries for Spain, was represented by its Minister of Economy, Abdourrahmane Sarr.
The document is divided into five major objectives (Strengthen, Grow, Connect, Protect and Coexist) and includes a hundred measures that the Spanish Government must develop or promote during the next three years. Among them are the holding of more summits with African countries, a diplomatic offensive that contemplates the opening of new embassies, collaboration in security and defense, or the expansion of circular migration projects, a strategy that Pedro Sánchez himself already advanced on last August, when he toured Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania.
In three years it will be time to take stock of compliance with the document. For now, beyond the words, there remain the silences. And some are striking.
