In the last few days, British news sources have published a number of articles about a non-existent “warning” to holiday makers concerning Moroccan military manoeuvres in waters 125 kilometres south of the Canaries.
However, Canarian President Fernando Clavijo has stressed that the actions of the Moroccan Navy are “perfectly legal,” an opinion shared by Spain’s Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares.
It is unclear where British journalists got the idea of a warning to holiday-makers. No such warning has been issued by the UK Foreign Office or the Spanish or Canarian Governments.
However, the presence of Moroccan vessels in international waters south of the Canaries for an exercise that is expected to last three months has caused criticism in some quarters. The President of Gran Canaria’s Cabildo, Antonio Morales of the Nueva Canarias party, has stated that the “north-east of Africa and the Canaries requires peaceful actions and should avoid any signs of militarization.”
Morales and his party have no role in the Canarian Government, yet somehow the Daily Express managed to mangle his words into a “two-word threat” to Morocco by the Canaries. The following day, other British news sources invented a non-existent warning to British holidaymakers.
None of this is a surprise. British media have also recently issued alarmist fake warnings about the forthcoming demonstrations against overdevelopment of tourism on the islands. Once again, no official warnings have been issued, and tourists, whether they’re British or not, are almost certain to be perfectly safe from demonstrators, as well as Moroccan warships.
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