Spain’s historical debt to Western Sahara: An interview with Eoghan Gilmartin

Abstract

In March 2022, the Spanish government, under socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, broke with five decades of neutrality on Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. Sánchez sent a letter to Moroccan King Mohammed VI, supporting Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan for Western Sahara within the Moroccan state. Madrid-based journalist, Eoghan Gilmartin, discusses Spain’s historical debt to Western Sahara, Spanish‐Moroccan relations, Spanish contemporary politics and the current energy crisis. Gilmartin’s work has appeared in publications including Jacobin Magazine, Tribune Magazine, Open Democracy, Novara Media and CTXT. He was interviewed on 20 May 2022 by Deirdre Kelly, a lecturer in Spanish at Technological University Dublin. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.