Spain and Morocco discuss Atlantic maritime boundaries

The recent High Level meeting between Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his Moroccan counterpart Aziz Akhannouch was an opportunity to address a longstanding dispute over maritime borders in the Atlantic, according to Atalayar on 4th December.

The issue revolves around the maritime space surrounding the Canary Islands, where Moroccan waters encroach on Spanish ones.

The UN outlines that every state can establish its maritime boundaries up to 12 nautical miles from its coast, as well as an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of up to 200 nautical miles. The Spanish island of Fuerteventura is only 60 nautical miles from the Moroccan coast.

The issue had already caused tensions in 2020, when Morocco passed a law declaring sovereignty over the Western Sahara coast; the law unilaterally instated an economic zone of 200 nautical miles from the shore. The announcement had then triggered a visit from then Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya to Morocco to protest the law.

Morocco had also been accused of previously demarcating the Canary Islands’ maritime space without consultation. Spain now supports the “Moroccan Plan” for the Western Sahara, acknowledging the Kingdom’s sovereignty over the disputed land, but maritime borders are still to be defined.

The matter is further complicated by the fact that the area at the centre of the dispute contains deep-sea minerals such as cobalt, nickel and tellurium, in an area called the Tropic Seamount, claimed by both countries.

Another issue of contention which was discussed in the meeting is Saharan airspace, which has been managed by Spain’s Gran Canaria control centre for decades. With Morocco’s autonomy plan now acknowledged by the Security Council as the “most feasible plan”, its responsibility is also increasing. Both countries currently share coordination protocols to maintain security, but these will likely evolve as Morocco’s plans for the region become clearer.

With Spanish-Moroccan relations currently at their best, it is likely both sides will work together on these issues to maintain security and balance in the area.

Atalayar, El Pais, Tel Quel, Maghrebi.org