1 NO. 46 JULY 31, 2002 THE SPANISH-MOROCCAN “CRISIS” AND THE FUTURE OF EURO-MED RELATIONS: FARCE OR HARBINGER OF THINGS TO COME? Bruce Maddy-Weitzman Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies At first glance, the Spanish-Moroccan confrontation over an uninhabited rock outcropping, 200 meters off the Moroccan Mediterranean coast, seems like something conjured up from a Marx Brothers movie. However, the triggering of nationalist passions on both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar, the speedy support by the two countries’ respective allies (the European Union for Spain, and the Arab and Islamic states, apart from Algeria, for Morocco), and the swift and decisive flexing of Spanish naval muscle, indicate that there is more to the matter than initially meets the eye. The fact that both countries have agreed to an American-brokered stand-down and initiated a round of high-level diplomacy is a tribute to mutual good sense. Nonetheless, the brief storm clouds over what Spain calls Isla de Perejil (Parsley Island) and Morocco calls Leila (Night), just when Morocco was officially celebrating the marriage of its King, serves as a reminder of how contentious Spanish-Moroccan relations have become in recent years. Moreover, this bilateral relationship seems to encapsulate the underlying, ongoing difficulties in creating a stable Euro- Mediterranean space, let alone bringing to fruition the dream of a true Euro- Med partnership as envisaged by the Barcelona Process. Morocco’s links with its former colonial masters, France and Spain, have never been as emotionally complicated and sensitive as have Algeria’s ties with its former French rulers. With Spain’s emergence in the last quarter of the 20th century as an economically dynamic and democratic constitutional monarchy, the common interests of the two countries in regional and internal stability and economic growth pointed them towards steadily more intimate ties. Spain quickly emerged as Morocco’s second-leading trading partner; and Spain’s King Juan Carlos maintained good relations with Morocco’s late King Hasan and his son and successor, King Muhammad VI. In fact, Juan Carlos was often referred to in Morocco as a model for emulation by an evolving monarchy and polity.