Spain's new PM Pedro Sanchez is determined to keep on good terms with Morocco. After Josep Borrell and Fernando Grande-Marlaska visited Rabat, El Pais started praising Morocco's head of the Moroccan secret services, Abdellatif Hammouchi. Head of the Moroccan secret services Abdellatif Hammouchi is making headlines in Spain. In October 2014, and after he was summoned by a French judge to testify on torture cases following complaints by torture victims against him, the official was awarded a decoration in Madrid. This time, Spain's most read newspaper El Pais, which is close to Sanchez' political party, dedicated an article to Hammouchi, praising his efforts as head of the Kingdom's DGST. The attempts of the Spanish government seem reassuring for Moroccan officials. While Pédro Sanchez wanted to visit Morocco on his first official trip to a foreign country as Spain's Prime Minister, the Moroccan authorities politely informed the Spanish government that the timing for such a visit was not propitious. Sanchez working on reinforcing ties with Morocco During the European Union summit held in Brussels on June the 24th to tackle the migration crisis in Europe, Sanchez has praised Morocco's cooperation efforts. A few days later, and on the sidelines of the Luxembourg summit on migration, held on the 28th and 29th of June, he announced that European Union leaders will boost funds granted to Rabat and Madrid to help deal with migration flows. «There is a commitment to dispense more funds to the government of Spain and Morocco», said Sanchez in a televised news conference held after the European Union summit in Brussels. One day before meeting his European counterparts, Pedro Sanchez decided to send, his Foreign and Interior Minister, Josep Borell and Fernando Grande-Marlaska to the North African Kingdom to hold talks with their Moroccan counterparts, Nasser Bourita and Abdelouafi Laftite. In 2005, the former Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, managed to reduce the number of boats trying to illegally enter the Canary Islands with the help of the Moroccan authorities. Indeed, the former Spanish PM is a member of Pedro Sanchez' circle. His experience could be used to earn the trust of Moroccan officials.
