Just hours after Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares reiterated his government's support for Morocco's autonomy plan for the Sahara—during a joint press conference in Madrid with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita—the Polisario Front's representative in Spain issued a statement in response. «The representation of the Polisario Front in Spain expresses its strongest condemnation of the remarks made by the Spanish Foreign Minister during today's statement at the ministry's headquarters, in the context of a meeting with his Moroccan counterpart», the statement reads. The separatist movement denounced what it described as «the Spanish government's vigorous defense of Moroccan claims over Western Sahara». This reaction stands in contrast to the more measured tone the Polisario leadership adopted following the Trump administration's reaffirmation, on April 8, of its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara. At the time, the Front had simply «expressed its deep regret over the manifest partiality of the American administration in favor of Morocco's expansionist theses against the Sahrawi Republic». Algeria had echoed a similar position. It's worth recalling that the Polisario announced the «severance of its relations with the Spanish government» on April 11, 2022—just four days after the meeting in Rabat between King Mohammed VI and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
