Madrid (Spain), March 4, 2026 (SPS) – The Spanish Workers’ Committees have renewed their firm support for the Sahrawi people and their inalienable right to self-determination, stressing the need to end the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara and to put a stop to the depletion of its natural resources.
In a statement published Tuesday on its official website, the Spanish trade union confederation stated that the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic marks a historic occasion to recall the Sahrawi people’s struggle for freedom and independence. It noted that February 27, 1976 represents a pivotal moment in the Sahrawi liberation movement and reflects the will of a people determined to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination.
In this context, the Spanish Workers’ Committees organized a meeting in Madrid at the headquarters, bringing together representatives of the Sahrawi political authorities, Spanish political and trade union figures, as well as civil society organizations, in a move reflecting the depth of solidarity with the Sahrawi cause.
During the meeting, the union confederation emphasized that the Sahrawi Republic represents the expression of the Sahrawi people’s struggle for freedom, noting that it is recognized by more than eighty countries and is a full member of the African Union, which reflects the international legitimacy of the Sahrawi cause despite Morocco’s continued occupation of large parts of the territory.
The Workers’ Commissions also stressed the need to end the Moroccan occupation of Sahrawi lands and the plundering of their natural resources, affirming that the continued exploitation of Sahrawi wealth constitutes a clear violation of international law and of the principle of permanent sovereignty of peoples over their natural resources.
They further denounced the complicity of certain companies and institutions that benefit from the occupation economy, considering that such practices contribute to entrenching an unlawful reality based on the exploitation of the Sahrawi people’s resources.
In the same vein, the trade union criticized the positions adopted by successive Spanish governments since 1976, describing them as inconsistent with Spain’s historical responsibility toward Western Sahara as the former colonial power in the territory.
Accordingly, the Workers’ Committees called on the Spanish government to take clear measures to support the UN-led process aimed at enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination and to work toward finding a just and definitive solution to the conflict based on respect for that right.
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