23/08/2026 - 11:36 GMT+2
This week Morocco once again put Ceuta and Melilla at the centre of its territorial claims. On Friday, Moroccan Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi defended his country's "historical and geographical" rights over the two autonomous cities and proposed setting up a mechanism for dialogue with Spain to address their future.
Pedro Sánchez's government was quick to respond. Sources at the Foreign Ministry said that Spain had conveyed to Morocco its "categorical rejection" of these claims and reiterated that Ceuta and Melilla form part of Spain's sovereignty and territorial integrity and therefore of the territory of the European Union.
Ouahbi set out Morocco's position in an interview with the public television channel "2M". The minister maintained that Rabat has no intention of abandoning its claims and argued that the issue should continue to be part of relations with Spain.
The justice minister proposed creating a bilateral mechanism to discuss the future of both cities and to seek what he described as a "definitive solution". Under his proposal, any such process would end with the integration of Ceuta and Melilla into Morocco.
