Spain clears Morocco in spyware saga, deepens ties

A recent security report from Spain clears Morocco over allegedly using spyware to meddle with Spain’s domestic matters, deepening ties, according to Middle East Online plus agencies on March 22nd.
Contrary to the accusations leveled by Spain’s right-wing political parties, the report does not implicate Morocco but instead highlights the intrusive activities of Russia and China on Spanish soil.
This finding undermines the claims made by right-wing and far-right opposition parties, who have consistently blamed Morocco for targeting the phones of Spanish leaders, including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Defence Minister Margarita Robles, and Interior Minister Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
The Popular Party (PP) and Vox have alleged that Morocco hacked the Prime Minister’s phone in 2022, using Israeli intelligence system Pegasus spyware. This allegation, originally published by Amnesty International and the press freedom group, Forbidden Stories in 2021, was reiterated last week by a PP senator in a tense discussion with Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, on March 19th.
Pegasus is a spyware system developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group and enables users to infiltrate and control the target’s cell phone content, in addition to controlling their cameras and microphones.
However, the report comes at a time when Spain and Morocco are drawing ever-closer economically and diplomatically, as seen in the development of a new trade route connecting Spain and Maghreb countries. Relations were further cemented with a recent high-level bilateral summit held on February 2nd in Rabat, Morocco. The summit saw the signing of 20 different agreements consolidating a “new area of mutual trust and genuine cooperation like it’s never existed before”, according to Spain’s Premier.
PP and Vox have also suggested that the alleged Moroccan espionage is to blame for Sanchez’s endorsement of Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed Sahara region.
Indeed, on a recent visit to Morocco on February 21st, Sanchez assured his country’s support for the 2007 Moroccon proposal for the Sahara, as a viable solution to the disputed region. While this is not an outright support of Morocco’s sovereignty claim to the region, it marks Spain as one of Morocco’s strongest supporters in the European Union.
READ: Spain’s PM visits Moroccan King, assures Sahara support
Despite these allegations, Spanish intelligence services refuted the accusations of Morocco’s hacking of government phones in June 2022. This report was further corroborated by testimonies of high-ranking Spanish intelligence officials to a European Parliament committee on November 28th, 2022, as part of an inquiry into the usage of Pegasus spyware.
Middle East Online