Spain-Morocco Cooperation ‘Imperative’ Despite Migration Tensions

Agadir – Spain must maintain close cooperation with Morocco while adopting a firmer position on migration-related issues, Irene Fernández Molina, a professor of international relations and specialist in the Maghreb, said amid renewed tensions surrounding the two countries’ shared border.

Speaking to Spanish radio station COPE, Fernández Molina said maintaining good relations and cooperation with Morocco is “imperative, almost unavoidable, for any government in Spain,” citing the two countries’ geographical proximity and shared interests.

The expert believes Madrid can combine its close relationship with Rabat with a stronger message on issues it considers red lines, particularly the use of migration control for broader foreign-policy purposes.

“This can be combined with perhaps a somewhat firmer message regarding certain red lines,” Fernández Molina argued, referring to Spain’s approach toward Morocco.

Discussing the more recent crisis in Ceuta, Fernández Molina said Spain initially projected an image of vulnerability, particularly because of the large number of people who crossed the border without impediment.

“I think it projected an image of vulnerability and of the border not being under control,” she explained, adding that this occurred “without the support or cooperation of the neighboring country.”

However, the professor also stressed that the situation subsequently improved through cooperation between Madrid and Rabat.

“It is also true that in the two weeks that followed, the Spanish government managed, thanks to its good understanding with the Moroccan authorities, to defuse the worst part of the humanitarian crisis fairly quickly and effectively,” she said.

For Fernández Molina, this demonstrated the importance of Spain’s relationship with Morocco in managing challenges along its southern border. At the same time, she argued, maintaining a close relationship should not prevent Madrid from communicating clear limits when migration becomes linked to wider political disputes.

The episode had been “opportunistically exploited” by the governments of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and US President Donald Trump, she stressed.

Fernández Molina’s comments come as Madrid and Rabat seek to manage the fallout from the recent migration crisis while maintaining a broader relationship built around cooperation on migration, security, and other shared interests.