Spain seeks return to controversial fishing

For almost a year now, almost 100 fishing boats have been waiting with bated breath, off of Andalusia, to return to fishing in the waters off of Western Sahara. These Spanish boats trawled the waters off this former Spanish colony thanks to an agreement between the EU and Morocco, but it was ruled by the European Court of Justice in February 2018 that this agreement could not apply to these waters since it did not take into account the “needs and wishes” of the people of Western Sahara, the indigenous Saharawi people. Now, almost a year on, a new deal will be voted upon in Strasbourg in February, under pressure from Spanish MEPs. However, critics argue the process of putting the deal together has still not involved the Saharawi, but has been, once again, made with Rabat. Spanish proponents of the deal dismiss this as irrelevant, since “the benefits outweigh the costs” for the Saharawi.