Former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has revealed that Morocco consulted Spain on its autonomy initiative for Western Sahara before presenting it to the UN Security Council in April 2007, according to an Iberian media outlet. «I remember very well when Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos presented the proposal to me to hear my opinion and begin working on it», Zapatero recalls in his new book, The Peaceful Solution, published on March 27, 2025. «Given Spain's delicate position, I was convinced that our country should support the political autonomy proposal for the Sahara and work toward an agreement between the parties», he writes. Zapatero described Morocco's plan as a «constructive path». The former Spanish leader (2004–2011) even compared it to the Catalonia autonomy statute—launched in 2006 at the beginning of his term—which was strongly criticized by Catalan separatists. In the book, Zapatero expresses his belief that «the solution will ultimately take the form of broad political autonomy for the Sahara and the Sahrawis». During Zapatero's time in office, Spain began shifting away from its traditional support for the Polisario Front and moved closer to Morocco. This policy endured despite the usual ups and downs in Madrid–Rabat relations—such as the meeting between Zapatero and former Polisario leader Mohamed Abdelaziz on November 25, 2004, at the PSOE headquarters in Madrid—a meeting that did not trigger any backlash from Morocco. Since leaving office, Zapatero has become a strong advocate of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and a key behind-the-scenes figure in the reshaped relationship between Rabat and Madrid. That new dynamic was formalized on March 18, 2022, when Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez publicly endorsed Morocco's autonomy plan for the Sahara.
