Morocco Launches Hostile Campaign Against Spanish Firm for Depicting Western Sahara as Separate Territory

Morocco Launches Hostile Campaign Against Spanish Firm for Depicting Western Sahara as Separate Territory

By Dr. Hana Saada

Madrid – In yet another display of its aggressive stance against international legality, Morocco has launched a hostile campaign targeting the Spanish delivery platform “Glovo” after the company’s updated map correctly represented Western Sahara as a territory distinct from Morocco, in line with international law.

According to the Spanish newspaper El Independiente, Rabat reacted with what it described as “hysterical outrage” following a technical update to the Glovo app that displayed Western Sahara by its rightful name, rather than as part of Morocco. The paper stressed that this uproar has little to do with digital mapping and everything to do with a deeper political fear—the Moroccan regime’s anxiety over global recognition of Western Sahara’s true legal status as a non-self-governing territory under occupation since 1975.

“The Moroccan establishment panics every time the name ‘Western Sahara’ appears on a map, or its flag is displayed, or even when a line is drawn to restore historical and legal truth,” the paper noted, adding that this reaction reflects “a chronic political insecurity and a desperate attempt to impose a fabricated narrative that neither history nor international legality supports.”

This is not the first time Morocco has tried to pressure institutions into adopting its expansionist claims. Recently, the European weather monitoring program Copernicus corrected its maps by introducing a dotted line clearly separating Western Sahara from Morocco, after previously merging them into a single territory. The Atmospheric Monitoring Service at Copernicus acknowledged a technical error affecting several maps, including those of Spain’s national weather agency, and confirmed that the issue was being resolved.

Meanwhile, the Court of Justice of the European Union reaffirmed in October 2024 the “separate and distinct” status of Western Sahara under international law, striking down Morocco’s claims and reiterating that the territory cannot be treated as part of the Kingdom of Morocco.

Spanish journalist and author Victoria García Correra also weighed in, asserting that the only legitimate map of Morocco is the one recognized by the United Nations—not the expansionist maps drawn by Rabat in an attempt to enforce a political fait accompli in violation of international law and the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination. Writing on the platform Don’t Forget Western Sahara, Correra denounced Morocco’s expansionist policy, describing the so-called “Greater Morocco map” as nothing more than “an extension of a colonial project that contradicts the anti-colonial principles Morocco claims to uphold in its official discourse.”

Correra drew a direct link between the fictional image of a “Greater Morocco” promoted through Moroccan education, media, and diplomacy, and the undeniable ground reality documented by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). This UN-backed mission—the only authority recognized under international law—maintains a clear distinction between Morocco and Western Sahara, affirming the latter’s status as a non-self-governing territory awaiting a long-overdue referendum on self-determination.