In Catalonia, Spain, five Moroccan trucks carrying fruit and vegetables were vandalized on February 27, highlighting ongoing tensions between Spanish farmers and Moroccan agricultural exports. Spanish farmers argue that Moroccan products bypass the stringent phytosanitary controls mandated by the European Union, posing unfair competition.
Moroccan Foreign Affairs Minister, Nasser Bourita, rebuffed these claims, emphasizing the protectionist motives behind these actions. During a briefing with France's Stéphane Séjourné, Bourita pointed out the European Union's significant trade surplus with Morocco, which includes substantial agricultural exports to the North African nation. He advocated for the principles of free trade, noting the EU's 10 billion euros surplus with Morocco and criticized the portrayal of the EU as lax in import controls. Bourita argued for a fair and factual discourse on trade relations, dismissing the reduction of complex trade issues to political rhetoric.
Source: en.yabiladi.com