When Spain was struck by an overwhelming power outage,Morocco came to the rescue thanks to an undersea power link,in a show of solidarity that falls in line with the Kingdom’s approach to neighborliness and cross-border cooperation.
Morocco mobilized 38% of its national grid production to help Spain after the blackout. Prime Minister Sanchez thanked the Kingdom for the initiative that once again proves to the Spanish people that he was right in mending ties with Morocco on strong basis of mutual respect,fruitful cooperation,and active solidarity.
Relations between the two countries kept growing at all levels since Spain took a step to repair the prejudice left by its colonial rule in southern Morocco,or the Sahara,with an outright support for Morocco’s territorial integrity and its autonomy plan as a lasting solution to the Sahara issue.
The Moroccan energy supply to its northern neighbor after the outage is no surprise for the well-informed readers. Morocco has two power interconnections with Spain as the two countries prepare to add a third link.
Morocco has also been exporting electricity to Spain since 2018.
Aspects of energy cooperation extend to the pipeline which Algeria hoped it will stay idle after its unilateral move to cut gas flow to Morocco and Spain in November 2021.
As Algeria disrupts regional energy market,weaponizing gas to win support for its Polisario proxies,Morocco and Spain gave the pipeline a new life by reverting the flow in summer 2023,enabling the Kingdom to import natural gas,enough to power to plants in northern Morocco.
Energy cooperation is a mirror reflecting the excellent ties between Spain and Morocco at the diplomatic,security,migration control,and economic levels.
Spain has remained steadfast in its new position in support of Morocco’s territorial integrity,despite Algeria’s self-destructive economic war measures.
Illegal crossings to mainland Spain from northern Morocco dropped significantly as the two countries step up cross border security cooperation against trafficking gangs.
At the economic level,Spain remains Morocco’s first trading partner in 2024,with a volume of 13 billion euros.
Spain sent rescue teams after a devastating earthquake hit Morocco’s high Atlas in September 2023,while Morocco mobilized extensive logistical resources to support Spain’s relief efforts following the flooding in the Valencia region in November 2024,being thus one of the first countries to offer aid to its European neighbor.
The two countries have lingering issues to resolve,including shared water,but they choose the path of dialogue,cooperation and two-way solidarity,in a brilliant example of what relations between two ancient neighborly Kingdoms should be like.
United News - unews.co.za