For the first time, Morocco and Algeria are set to sit directly at the negotiation table over the Sahara issue this Sunday, at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid. Morocco will present its autonomy proposal under its sovereignty, in a revised and expanded 40-page version, opening a new chapter in talks that have long been stalled.
Spanish newspaper “El Confidencial”, citing well-informed diplomatic sources, reports that representatives from Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, and the separatist Polisario Front will participate in what are described as “secret negotiations”, requested by senior U.S. officials dealing with Africa and the Middle East.
The Moroccan delegation will be led by Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, while Algerian Minister of State and Foreign Minister Ahmed Ataf will head the Algerian team. Mauritania will be represented by Foreign Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, and the Polisario delegation by its chief diplomat, Mohamed Salem Bissat.
The meeting will also include the presence of Staffan de Mistura, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Sahara, with close oversight by White House advisors Moussa Polis and Michael Waltz.
Morocco will present its updated autonomy plan, now a detailed 40-page document, based on UN Security Council Resolution 2797, adopted on October 31, 2025, which calls for political negotiations among all parties according to the Moroccan proposal. The new version is significantly more detailed than the official 2007 submission to the UN, which consisted of just 3 pages with 35 points.
Madrid was chosen as the venue in what sources describe as a unilateral decision by U.S. diplomacy, likely for practical reasons. The Spanish Foreign Ministry did not participate in preparations, though Minister José Manuel Albares will receive his Algerian and Mauritanian counterparts on Saturday.
This move comes less than two weeks after Moussa Polis visited Algeria (January 26–27, 2026), meeting President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and Foreign Minister Ahmed Ataf to discuss the Sahara directly.
Days earlier, the Polisario delegation led by Mohamed Salem Bissat met U.S. officials in Washington regarding the issue. Moroccan diplomatic sources indicate that the Americans confirmed that autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty is the maximum framework for negotiations, and that Washington will not reverse its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara.
Madrid may signal the start of a new phase in the Sahara dossier, where Morocco seeks to turn its autonomy plan into a tangible negotiated reality, while Algeria, Mauritania, and the Polisario closely watch, under international American and UN supervision.
