Turmoil has erupted among supporters of the Polisario Front in Spain. Podemos in the Canary Islands has accused the People’s Party (PP) and Vox of legitimizing, through their support for a U.S. military operation against Venezuela, an international doctrine that could, in its view, pave the way for a new «Green March» orchestrated by Morocco, with U.S. backing, aimed at reclaiming the Canary Islands, as well as Ceuta and Melilla.
Podemos recalled that the PP has supported all parliamentary resolutions since March 2022 condemning Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s endorsement of Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
The radical left party accuses Spain’s right-wing parties of having «trampled on the legal framework protecting territorial sovereignty by applauding an illegal interventionist model applied by Trump in Venezuela».
It also points to the strategic importance of the Canary Islands’ seabed, which is believed to contain valuable mineral resources, gas deposits, and potential oil reserves, assets that Podemos says are «increasingly coveted by major powers and which Morocco has already begun to claim unilaterally».
According to Podemos, Rabat has drawn maritime boundaries with the Canary Islands and signed agreements with foreign companies to explore these resources, allegedly with «the endorsement of the United States, its main military ally».
«What is allowed today in Caracas could happen tomorrow in the Canary Islands if strategic interests are at stake», warned Noemí Santana, MP and spokesperson for Podemos Canarias. She added that «the PP and Vox are providing Morocco and Trump with the narrative they need to justify an intervention that could echo what we experienced in Western Sahara in 1975. This time, the resources are here, beneath our feet».
Santana accused the two main right-wing parties of «failing to defend Spain» and of «protecting those who seek to dismantle it», while Morocco, she claimed, «shakes hands with Trump to secure military support and control over foreign resources». She further argued that by applauding the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, «the PP and Vox are weakening the legal shield that protects us as an archipelago».
As a reminder, Podemos Canarias had already condemned, in March 2021, joint military exercises conducted by the U.S. Army and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces near the Canary Islands.