Column by Faiza Rhoul

Colombia’s ambassador to Morocco, Carlos Arturo Forero Sierra, a career diplomat with more than 30 years of experience, reportedly learned informally that preparations were already under way to replace him. The move comes as President Abelardo de la Espriella’s government overhauls Colombia’s diplomatic network and pursues a major shift in relations with Morocco.

Hundreds of civil society organisations, backed by figures from the arts, media and academia, are mobilizing against rising racism and the political exploitation of events in Sebta (Ceuta). Demonstrations are taking place across Spain from October 22 to 27 to condemn anti-migrant hate speech, allegations of violence against migrants and the growing normalization of xenophobia. With just over a month to go before the November 29 general election, the groups warn that escalating political rhetoric is turning immigration into an electoral weapon.

The leak alleging that a Moroccan frigate entered Ceuta’s waters may have been part of a power struggle at the highest levels of the Spanish state. According to The Objective, intelligence officers deliberately leaked the information to settle scores with Pedro Sánchez. The newspaper also raises the prospect of further damaging disclosures ahead of Spain’s general election.

Latin America’s diplomatic landscape is shifting on the Moroccan Sahara, leaving Mexico increasingly out of step with several of its regional partners. In talks with the president of the Mexican Senate, Ambassador Abdelfattah Lebbar highlighted that divide and urged Mexico to move gradually towards Morocco’s autonomy plan, which is gaining support across the region.

People’s Party (PP) leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo says he still needs to look into Spain’s 2022 decision to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara. Yet his party has spent years debating and challenging that decision, even demanding its reversal in parliament. Between shifting positions, contradictory statements and promises of good neighborly relations, the Spanish right continues to leave its intentions towards Morocco unclear.

Morocco plans to propose a new strategy for cooperation on irregular migration to its European partners, seeking to move away from a model that the Foreign Ministry says has shown its limits in the face of repeated migration crises. The initiative was announced by King Mohammed VI during the opening of the parliamentary year.

Spanish MEP Juan Ignacio Zoido has asked the European Commission to intervene with Google over the dotted lines it uses to mark off Ceuta and Melilla from Morocco. The PP is now reviving the controversy, but it is late to the fight. The two cities’ borders have been shown this way since at least 2020, and Google already faced an official complaint in 2023—without a single dot on the map being moved.

The Junts leader describes the two cities as “colonies” located “inside Morocco” and calls for their future to be decided through a referendum, adding to a debate that has recently spread from the European Parliament to Spain’s political scene.

The resolution on Ceuta refers to “hybrid warfare,” calls for Morocco’s cooperation and rebukes the Spanish government, but it does not accuse the Moroccan state in any way. That did not stop Spain’s People’s Party, its allies in the European Parliament and some Spanish media outlets from portraying a decidedly relative “victory” in spectacular terms—a reading that hardly survives close scrutiny of the document itself.