The Financial Times points out that “King Mohammed VI holds leverage over” Sánchez

The migratory invasion of Ceuta and Pedro Sánchez's shameful reaction is causing his image to plummet in the foreign media.

Morocco's spying on Sánchez and the serious implications it has for Spain
Pegasus, the real cause of the antisemitic campaign instigated by Pedro Sánchez

Un ejemplo de ello es la crónica publicada este martes por la tarde por el Financial Times (FT), un diario con sede en Londres que figura entre los medios internacionales más influyentes entre los inversores. La crónica, titulada "El rey que burló a Pedro Sánchez", destaca: "El gobernante absoluto de Marruecos, Mohammed VI, convirtió la frontera con España en una herramienta de presión sobre Madrid". Pero la clave del asunto está en el primer párrafo de la noticia, firmada por Barney Jopson, corresponsal del FT en Madrid, y por Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper, corresponsal del FT en Beirut:

An example of this is the article published Tuesday afternoon by the Financial Times (FT), a London-based newspaper that ranks among the most influential international media outlets for investors. The article, titled "The king who outfoxed Pedro Sánchez," highlights: "Morocco’s absolute ruler Mohammed VI turned Spain’s border into leverage over Madrid." But the key to the matter lies in the first paragraph of the article, written by Barney Jopson, FT correspondent in Madrid, and Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper, FT correspondent in Beirut:

"Morocco’s all-powerful monarch and Europe’s most prominent leftwing leader make for uneasy bedfellows in a relationship of mutual dependence. But the migration crisis that erupted at Spain’s borders has signalled where King Mohammed VI holds leverage over Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez."

The FT points to two examples similar to the migratory invasion of Ceuta, specifically Turkey's use of Syrian refugees against the Greek borders in 2024 and Belarus's hybrid war against Poland using immigration as a weapon, two cases that I already addressed here in my first article on the recent assault on Ceuta.

The London newspaper notes that "a senior Spanish official in a former Socialist government said Sánchez was failing to recognise that episodes of tension in a bilateral relationship were normal and even healthy. “The government’s philosophy is: ‘Let’s not upset the Moroccans.’ And I think what’s happening here is that the Moroccans are reading that as weakness,” the ex-official said."

The Financial Times recalls that the relationship between Sánchez and Morocco became complicated in 2021, when the Spanish government approved the entry into Spain of Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front, a group that led a terrorist campaign against Spain to achieve the independence of Spanish Sahara and that is now fighting against Morocco for its control over that territory. The FT notes: "Rabat accused Spain of “colluding” with its adversary. A few weeks after Ghali’s arrival, Ceuta got a taste of being overwhelmed: Morocco relaxed border policing and at least 8,000 migrants swam or used makeshift boats to reach the exclave."

The FT points to as a "victory" the fact that Sánchez recognized Western Sahara as Moroccan territory, a decision made personally by the socialist leader without prior consultation with either the Congress or the Senate, the chambers that represent national sovereignty in Spain, and betraying 46 years of Spanish foreign policy on that territory.

The London newspaper also points out that "Morocco does not recognise Spain’s sovereignty over the exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which fell under the Spanish crown in the 16th century and are the only slices of European territory in mainland Africa. Some in Morocco refer to “occupied Ceuta” — and Spain’s military planning includes the potential need to fight to defend them."

However, the FT overlooks the true source of the King of Morocco's influence over Sánchez, a matter on which Spanish media have already shed considerable light. This refers to the Pegasus case, the Moroccan spying on Sánchez's mobile phone, in two data breaches that yielded 2.6 GB and 130 MB of information. That espionage, which took place in May 2021, was followed by a series of scandalous concessions made by Sánchez to Morocco. Without this case, the full scope of the subservient relationship that has developed between the current Prime Minister of Spain and the King of Morocco cannot be understood —a relationship that is increasingly harming Spain's interests and the stability of the European Union, given that the EU's borders with Morocco are in Ceuta and Melilla.

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Photo: La Moncloa. The President of the Government of Spain, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, and the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, during a meeting in Rabat on February 21, 2024.