SPAIN¿S CHANGE OF DIPLOMATIC POSITION IN RESPECT OF THE INTERNATIONAL STATUS OF WESTERN SAHARA

Abstract

The Western Sahara is a non-self governing territory pending decolonization. The United Nations has tried to end the conflict and find a solution by which the right to self-determination is applied, but Morocco and the Polisario Front have continued with the conflict withouth agreeing a mutually acceptable solution. Spain, as the former colonial power, must comply with obligations in regard to this territory and holds a decisive and primordial role, without which a realistic solution is not probable. The Spanish government positioned itself in 2022 for the Autonomy Plan presented by Morocco in 2007, which meant a change in the Spanish diplomatic position. An analysis of this change, the issue and the actors involved under international law is carried out in this study in order to find out the whether this action of the Kingdom of Spain is legal or not.