CUETA - According to many analysts, the sudden influx of about 8,000 migrants in the past 48 hours in the small Spanish enclave of Ceuta, was a message from Morocco to Spain, a move some suggested was motivated by the ongoing issue of Western Sahara. By doing so Rabat were perhaps reacting to the hospitality offered by Madrid, for the reasons of Covid, to Brahim Ghali, the President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, currently occupied in the most part by Morocco.

  Thus, migration has again been used for issues of international law and territorial disputes and in Madrid many believe that this risky move could have unpredictable effects, given the opposition of many EU countries to any form of blackmail against a member country, especially on a subject as deeply felt as the condition of migrants close to the continental borders.

  Germany, for example, a leading country in Europe, never misses an opportunity to reiterate its opposition to every unscrupulous move by Rabat, who attempt to impose solutions with the flavour of a fait accompli on the issues of migration and Western Sahara.

  And if the arrival of the Sahrawi leader in Spain, for treatment, was perceived by the Moroccan authorities as "a very hostile decision", the decision to throw open the doors to thousands of migrants cannot in any way be accepted, by Brussels or even less by the Spanish government of Pedro Sanchez.

  In fact, no one in Europe believes that the influx of thousands of migrants to Ceuta could have taken place without the green light from Rabat.

  "It's not a coincidence. Eight thousand people don't come in so spontaneously," headlines ABC, "This is clearly a lever on Spain that Morocco is using against us," notes El Pais. While an expert tells us that when relations are good, they are controlled. When they fail, the immigration card is used to put pressure on Spain.

  But he is keen to clarify: This is no longer tolerable and Germany has already made it known that it will no longer allow any third country to blackmail a country like Spain and the European institutions will soon make their voices heard.

  Now it is likely that France, Morocco's main sponsor, will attempt mediation to defuse a diplomatic bomb that can explode at any moment, since for many the Moroccan move would be part of an effort aimed at quickly reaping the benefits of the recognition decided by the former American president Donad Trump on Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and exert pressure on countries such as Spain and France to change their position "and persuade them, by all means, to follow the American example as soon as possible."

  As a former colonial power, Spain has always tried to remain neutral, but this no longer seems to be enough for a Moroccan diplomacy that already regrets the constructive and "disinterested" spirit of Jared Kushner & co.

mr-ol