In last month's e-newsletter, we talked about Spain
demanding Gibraltar back from the British, and how odd this
was when they themselves had two territories in Morocco,
(Ceuta and Melilla) that the Moroccans would like
back.
You may have noticed in the news that a couple of weeks
ago, on July 11th, a small band
of Moroccan soldiers landed on the unoccupied Spanish
owned, but jointly claimed Island of Perejil (Spanish) or
Leila (Arabic) or Parsley (English) – unoccupied but for
goats, that is, and just 25 metres from the Moroccan
shoreline.
They set up tents and put a Moroccan flag. The
arrival was said to be to celebrate the King of
Morocco's wedding. About a week after that,
Spanish troops arrived on the island, escorted by full
naval battleships and gained control from the Moroccan
army. Now the Spanish troops have withdrawn from the
island and all is well again: foreign ministers of Morocco
and Spain have finalised a US-brokered (the EU was snubbed
in helping here) resolution to their dispute over the
Mediterranean island of Perejil. Although both
countries claim the island, Spain says it had an
understanding that neither side would erect a permanent
camp there. The return to the status quo does not
mean that Morocco has given up its claim to sovereignty of
Pereji.
Morocco was also hoping to take the opportunity to talk
about all the issues of contention between the two
countries. These include the Western Sahara,
clandestine immigration and fishing, as well as the future
of the Spanish sovereign enclaves of Ceuta and
Melilla. Spain said it was willing to talk about
anything except the enclaves.