Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain), 16 July 2026 (SPS) – The International Association of Jurists for Western Sahara (IAJUWS) has strongly condemned, in an open letter addressed to the rector of the University of La Laguna (ULL), Francisco García Rodríguez, his recent official visit to El Aaiun and Dakhla, Sahrawi cities occupied by Morocco.
The association described the visit as a blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law.
IAJUWS firmly reminded the rector that the University of La Laguna is a public institution funded by public money and has a legal obligation to ensure that its activities strictly comply with international law, according to the letter addressed to the university rector.
The association stressed that this requirement is all the more crucial in the case of Western Sahara, which is listed by the United Nations as a Non-Self-Governing Territory awaiting decolonization and is illegally occupied by Morocco.
It also recalled that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has repeatedly reaffirmed that Western Sahara has a separate and distinct status and does not form part of Moroccan territory.
The representative of the POLISARIO Front in Spain, Abdulah Arabi, expressed his “deep dissatisfaction and grave concern”, denouncing the visit as directly serving Morocco's strategy to seek to assimilate and legitimize its occupation of Western Sahara.
Canary solidarity associations, including the Canary Association of Friendship with the Sahrawi People (ACAPS) and the Canary Association of Solidarity with the Sahrawi People (ACSPS), described the visit as “unacceptable” and contrary to the legitimate interests of the Sahrawi people.
International solidarity groups also joined the criticism. From Latin America and the Caribbean, the PLACSO Platform, bringing together jurists and human rights defenders, formally urged the Canary Islands' academic authorities to realign their position with international law.
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