Jorge Dezcallar says Rabat 'perceives a weak government in Madrid'
Morocco’s territorial claims on Spanish exclaves in North Africa are an important driver of the latest migration crisis in Ceuta, according to a former Spanish ambassador to Morocco.
The arrival of at least 72,000 migrants in the tiny Spanish city in late July triggered a political shock in Spain and across Europe, while thrusting a long-running territorial dispute back into the spotlight.
Jorge Dezcallar, who also served as director of Spain’s CNI intelligence service, told Euractiv that Rabat has never abandoned its claims over Ceuta and Melilla. And it was those unresolved tensions that formed part of the backdrop to the massive migrant surge that overwhelmed Ceuta.
In a way, he added, Morocco is “testing the waters” at a moment when it “perceives a weak government in Madrid”.
