Karima Benyaich, Morocco's Ambassador to Spain and the Daughter of the "King's Doctor"
During the crisis between Rabat and Madrid regarding the Sahara issue, the name of the Moroccan ambassador to Spain since 2017, Karima Benyaich, hits the news. Her presence is remarkable, given both the effective body language she uses and the fluent Spanish language she speaks.
Activists on social media shared the ambassador's statements on a large scale, until she received the title of "Iron Lady" in the Spanish press.
One of the diplomats described her as "Having an iron fist", according to the French magazine "Jeune Afrique". The latter has published a profile about her titled "Diplomacy at the heart of the confrontation between Rabat and Madrid."
The (unnamed) spokesperson continued to the magazine: "The ambassador's serious and sharp personality goes hand in hand with her tact and initiative with everyone."
Charismatic Personality
“We cannot but regret the turmoil and nervousness that accompanied the statements of Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya.” With these words, Benyaich denounced, in press statements on May 27, 2021, the statements of “Gonzalith Laya” against Morocco.
The ambassador wondered whether the foreign minister's outputs were "Wrong or did they reflect the real inclinations of certain Spanish circles against the territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the sacred cause of the Moroccan people", in reference to the Sahara issue.
On May 18, 2021, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Ambassador Benyaich and the minister said that her country “Rejects and opposes the collective entry of migrants from Morocco to the enclave of Ceuta in North Africa.”
"I summoned the Moroccan ambassador here to express our dissatisfaction and rejection of the mass influx of Moroccan immigrants to Ceuta, and I mentioned that border control should be the joint responsibility of Morocco and Spain," Gonzalith Laya told reporters.
On May 17, 2021, the Spanish authorities announced that about 6,000 Moroccans, including families with children, had irregularly entered the Spanish city of Ceuta, bordering Morocco (which Morocco considers occupied).
The Spanish authorities accused Morocco of failing to protect the borders, against the backdrop of diplomatic tensions between Spain and Morocco in the recent period, due to Spain's reception of the leader of the "Polisario" anti-Morocco and advocate for the independence of the Sahara, Ibrahim Ghali.
Before responding to the summons of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Moroccan ambassador said, "In relations between countries, there are actions that have consequences and must be borne," considering that there are "Unacceptable Actions", in reference to Madrid's reception of "Ghali".
The diplomat commented to "Jeune Afrique" magazine: "Benyaish has tremendous abilities and fabulous qualifications. She is keen to perfect her duties, and she knows by heart all her interlocutors."
Under the King's Wing
The media coverage and the spotlight on it came in the special context between Rabat and Madrid, but Benyaich is "A very conservative figure", according to those close to her.
Before the outbreak of the diplomatic crisis in mid-April 2021 between Morocco and Spain, which occurred after Madrid received the leader of the "Polisario" and stayed in the hospital in Logroño, Benyaich was "unknown".
Benyaich was born in 1961 in the city of Tetouan, the daughter of the physician and personal surgeon of the late King Hassan II, Fadel Benyaich, who was killed during the coup attempt that took place in Skhirat in July 1971.
After the death of his doctor, the late king took his daughter, who was the eldest of her two sisters, Donia and Anan, and their brother Fadel, and became their guardian.
Hassan II himself assured their education at the Royal College, where the ambassador was a classmate of Princess Maryam, the king's eldest daughter, while her brother was a classmate of the Crown Prince - at the time - King Mohammed VI, and her two sisters with Princess Hasna.
After obtaining a high school diploma in economics in Rabat in 1981, Benyaich traveled to Canada, where she obtained a law degree from the University of Montreal in 1986.
Upon her return to Morocco in 1987, Benyaich joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and held various positions, including director of cultural and scientific cooperation, as well as diplomatic advisor to Morocco's candidacy to organize the FIFA World Cup.
In 2008, she became the Kingdom's ambassador to Portugal, and stayed there for nearly 10 years, until her appointment in 2017 in Madrid, to replace her brother Fadel, who is also an expert on the Spanish matters.
Dual Culture
Benyaich is the president and member of many associations concerned with childhood, women and culture. She earned several medals, including the Leader of Civil Merit in Spain in 2000, and the National Order of Merit in France in 2007.
A former diplomat told Jeune Afrique that "Long before her appointment to Lisbon, her name was on the lists of potential ambassadors at the State Department several times, but her mother was old and sick, so she wanted to stay by her side as long as possible."
Benyaich was born to a Spanish mother, Carmen Milan, who arrived in the city of Tetouan in northern Morocco at the time of her marriage to Dr. Benyaich, whom she met in Granada while studying medicine there.
Carmen Milan was proud of her Andalusian roots and did not hesitate to share her culture through cooking and music, but she made Morocco her adopted home.
Milan lived until her death in Rabat, where she was buried. The mother insisted on giving her children a Moroccan education, and ensuring their acquisition of the Moroccan traditions and the Islamic religion.
The “Arabs” website (issued from Britain) titled an article on Benyaich on May 16, 2021, with “Economic diplomacy armed with two cultures,” stating that “Spanish blood runs in its veins and veins rooted in the soil of Moroccan civilization and culture, and therefore it is imbued with a dual culture and language with an excellent Spanish.”
