The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, highlighted on Tuesday the “tangible and concrete results” brought by the new stage of the relationship with Morocco in all areas.
The new relationship with Morocco is based on “solid pillars”, underlined Mr. Albares before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, assuring that the results are already visible on the ground.
In this regard, the head of Spanish diplomacy highlighted the decrease in irregular immigration, with 69% fewer arrivals in January compared to the same month of 2022 on the Andalusian coast, and 82% in the case of the Canary Islands.
“We cooperate in the fight against mafias that traffic in human beings,” he insisted, noting that “migration must be safe, legal, regular and orderly.”
In other areas, Mr. Albares noted that collaboration with Morocco has made it possible to “dismantle six criminal and terrorist networks over the past year and a half”.
Morocco and Spain held, on 1 and 2 February in Rabat, their 12th High-Level Meeting, which was sanctioned by a Joint Declaration, in which the two parties express their commitment to perpetuating the relations of excellence which have always linked and reaffirm their desire to enrich them permanently.
The two parties signed, on this occasion, several cooperation agreements relating to various fields, including the management of migration, tourism, infrastructure, water resources, the environment, agriculture, vocational training, social security, transport, health security and research and development.