Canary Islands PM to visit Morocco, as demarcation of maritime borders drags on
Angel Victor Torres, the Prime Minister of the Canary Islands, will travel to Morocco on official business on Wednesday. This will be the first trip of this kind after the recent diplomatic rapprochement, which is being surrounded by controversy over the demarcation of maritime borders between Morocco, Spain, and the Canary Islands.
The visit, which is anticipated to last a day and a half and will primarily focus on bilateral issues, including the demarcation of borders, was revealed by Julio Perez, a spokesman for the Canary Islands government, during a press conference held after the Council of Ministers meeting on Thursday in Las Palmas.
Torres will be accompanied on the tour by José Ant, Minister of Ecological Transition, Combating Climate Change, and Territorial Planning, Government of the Canary Islands, and Elena Manez, Minister of Economy and Employment.
Because the Canarian political parties accused Torres of “depriving” the islands of their place in the border demarcation negotiations between Spain and Morocco, Torres has been the target of political pressure, which he passed on to Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish Prime Minister.
Announcing that “the Canary Islands would be present in the negotiations to demarcate the maritime borders with Morocco, as it will profit from the implementation of the articles of the joint declaration reached with Rabat in April,” Sanchez said at the end of November of last year. Additionally, he stated that the Canary Islands delegate had already attended two sessions in June and October of last year.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Ministry of Interior reported a reduction in migration waves to the Canary Islands of 24.9%, with only 682 migrants arriving in the first nine months of last year—4.7% fewer than during the same time in 2021. The joint agreement that the two nations signed on March 18 of last year, according to the ministry, was responsible for this decline.
The Spanish Ministry of Interior had noted an increase in immigration rates of approximately 73.2% at the beginning of the year compared to the year before, but this surge decreased to 34.7% after one month.