King Mohammed VI hosts luncheon in honor of President of Spanish government

King Mohammed VI hosted in Rabat on Wednesday a luncheon in honor of the President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, and his accompanying delegation that included Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares.

Besides the Head of the Moroccan Government, Aziz Akhannouch, who presided over the luncheon, other members of the delegation accompanying Sánchez, Speaker of the House of Representatives Rachid Talbi Alami, Minister of the Interior Abdelouafi Laftit, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita, and Morocco’s Ambassador to Spain Mrs. Karima Benyaich took part in the function.

The President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, arrived in Morocco earlier on Wednesday on an official visit to the Kingdom, his first to the North African Kingdom since his government took office in January.

The President of the Spanish Government wrote on his X account upon arrival in Rabat that “relations with our neighbor, friend, and strategic partner are at their best moment in decades.” “This official visit gives a new impetus to our cooperation in all areas and consolidates a model of constructive neighborhood based on trust and mutual respect,” he added.

During his official trip to Morocco, Pedro Sánchez will hold talks with senior Moroccan officials, including his counterpart, Aziz Akhannouch.

Pedro Sánchez’s previous official visit to Morocco dates back to February 2, 2023, when he co-chaired with Akhannouch the 12th high-level meeting between the two countries.

Sources from the Spanish government highlighted, according to the Spanish official news agency EFE, the importance of this trip, which comes at the beginning of the legislature presided over by Sanchez. The aim is to further strengthen the “excellent” nature of bilateral relations between the two countries.

This position was expressed last December in Rabat by the Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, who, during the visit of his Spanish counterpart to Rabat, stated that relations with Spain “have never reached such a level of strength, solidity, and trust.”

This stage of the bilateral relationship was sealed during last year’s High-Level Meeting, which was preceded the previous year by Sánchez’s meeting with King Mohammed VI in April 2022 in Rabat. The 2022 visit followed the letter sent by the Prime Minister to the Sovereign, in which the Spanish government expressed its support for the autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty for the Saharan provinces. This plan was endorsed by Spain as “the most serious, credible, and realistic” approach to resolve the Sahara conflict.

This meeting highlighted by the adoption of the Moroccan-Spanish Roadmap that unleashed energies in several areas of cooperation. Actually, since then, strategic and mutually advantageous relations have been continuously consolidated at all levels, making of these relations a model partnership, guided by common interests, and an exemplary cooperation based on understanding, neighborliness, and mutual respect.

The new momentum in bilateral relations also boosted economic exchanges, consolidating Spain’s position as Morocco’s leading trading partner.

In 2023, the total volume of Moroccan-Spanish trade reached €17.4 billion, up +7% compared with 2022.