Just over a week later, Spain signed the Madrid Accords in which Spain, Morocco, and Mauritania agreed to respect the views of local population. On a per-capita basis, the Sahara receives more state investment in schools and other infrastructure than other regions in Morocco. Ceuta and Melilla might be relatively tiny towns, but they represent illegitimate beach heads and are home to approximately 170,000 Spanish settlers. Moroccans should gather, send bulldozers to the border, and then enter Ceuta and Melilla unarmed to raise the flag. Neither Ceuta, Melilla, nor the Canary Islands would trigger a NATO response.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 16, 2026 23:24 UTC