Shared interests
- Migration control and action against smuggling networks.
- Bilateral trade and industrial supply chains.
- Security and counter-terrorism cooperation.
- Ferries, ports, customs and mobility.
- The 2030 World Cup and a possible fixed link.
COOPERATION AND COMPETITION
Spain and Morocco: interdependence under tension
The two countries cooperate on trade, migration, security, energy and major projects. At the same time, they compete for port influence, retain territorial disagreements and experience periodic crises.
Friction points
- Algeciras versus Tanger Med.
- Ceuta and Melilla.
- Western Sahara and relations with Algeria.
- The ability to influence migration flows.
- Regional influence and access to Europe.
EU–MOROCCO TRADE · 2025€62.2bn
The EU is Morocco's largest trade partner.
ALGECIRAS · 2025100.7 Mt
A decade above 100 million tonnes annually.
TANGER MED · 202511.1m TEU
One of the Mediterranean's largest port complexes.
THE PARADOX
The more they need each other, the more leverage each can possess
Interdependence reduces the incentive for a complete rupture, but creates levers: borders, customs, police cooperation, trade, ports, fisheries, energy and diplomacy.
Diplomatic and border crisis
A mass arrival in Ceuta occurs during a major bilateral dispute.
New roadmap
Madrid and Rabat open a period of normalisation and stronger cooperation.
High-Level Meeting
Agreements and projects expand across multiple sectors.
Cooperation under pressure
The Ceuta crisis again reveals the operational and political fragility of the relationship.
Can Morocco use migration as leverage?
There is a documented debate around the “instrumentalisation” of migration flows, particularly since 2021. Each episode nevertheless requires specific evidence: orders, border-force conduct, diplomatic chronology, social-media mobilisation and actual control capacity.
See current evidence