Morocco ambassador was on vacation when Spain summoned her over Ceuta and Melilla

Spain’s Foreign Ministry has revealed that Morocco’s ambassador to Madrid, Karima Benyaich, did not attend the meeting to which she was summoned on August 21 because she was on vacation. Abderrahim Radi, the embassy’s adviser and chargé d’affaires, attended on her behalf.

During the meeting, the Spanish Foreign Ministry informed Radi of Madrid’s rejection of statements made by Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi and Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs Ahmed Toufiq regarding Ceuta and Melilla. They asked him to convey this position to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccans Abroad, Nasser Bourita.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had revealed yesterday morning before the Congress of Deputies that the Moroccan ambassador had been summoned, explaining that the move came in response to the two Moroccan ministers’ remarks concerning sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla.

Sánchez described the statements as «unacceptable», stressing that his government had rejected them outright. The Spanish Foreign Ministry said it had decided not to wait for Benyaich’s return because the protest could not be delayed, noting that it had also conveyed the complaint to the ambassador through remote communication channels.

Spain’s Foreign Ministry had previously summoned Benyaich in late 2020, following remarks by then Moroccan Prime Minister Saadeddine El Othmani, who said that Ceuta and Melilla were «Moroccan, just like the Sahara».

She was summoned again in May 2021 to protest the entry of around 8,000 migrants into Ceuta. Morocco responded at the time by recalling its ambassador, before she returned to Madrid in March 2022 after the Spanish government shifted its position on the Sahara dispute and backed Morocco’s autonomy initiative.