José Manuel Albares, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs / DR ‹ › For several weeks, the natural and situational allies of the Polisario in Spain's lower house had been gearing up to use World Human Rights Day as a platform to challenge the Minister of Foreign Affairs. On Wednesday, December 10, José Manuel Albares sought to persuade MPs from various parties, excluding the PSOE, of the validity of Spain's backing of Morocco's autonomy plan for the Sahara, announced in March 2022. He highlighted that this support was further solidified by the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2797 on October 31. «The Sahara issue cannot remain unresolved for another half-century», he declared. His comments were met with opposition from representatives of Sumar, the Republican Left of Catalonia, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), and EH Bildu, the Basque independents. MPs from the People's Party also voiced their disagreement. These reactions were anticipated. Similar sentiments were expressed as early as March 18, 2022, when the Moroccan royal cabinet announced Spain's endorsement of the Moroccan autonomy plan, touting it as «the basis» for a resolution. The People's Party leverages this issue to put pressure on the PSOE, mirroring the strategy of its former leader, Mariano Rajoy, during his opposition tenure from March 2004 to November 2011. Nonetheless, once in office, Rajoy backtracked on his commitments to the Polisario.
