On the sidelines of the huge media reporting on the “incident” in which Spanish officers patrolling for drug smugglers and human traffickers mistakenly attempted to board King Mohammed VI’s yacht, The Telegraph reported King Mohammed VI to have told representatives of the Spanish monarchy that he understood the officers were “only doing their job,” but complained that they “did not show me respect.”
The Telegraph said that King Mohammed VI “immediately called up” his friend “King Felipe VI of Spain to complain.”
The same source added that Spain’s Royal Palace insisted King Felipe maintained a “very good relationship” with the Moroccan monarch.
Yahoo News shared a story about the “incident” saying that Spain was “forced to apologise to outraged King of Morocco.”
The British outlet MailOnline also wrote an article about the event saying that “Spain has been forced to make an embarrassing apology to the King of Morocco after police officers mistook the royal for a drug smuggler before attempting to board his yacht.”
The Spanich media outlet El Mundo said one of the officers who stopped the Moroccan monarch was reported to have initially said: ‘Do you know who I am?’ after the Spanish officers of La Guardia Civil tried to board his yacht.
After that the Spanish Civil Guard responded “No”, the King took off his sunglasses and hat so he could be recognised.
El Mundo went on further saying that King Mohammed VI instantly phoned King Felipe VI of Spain to complain about the incident.
“Once a message was sent from the Moroccan Royal household to Spain’s interior ministry, the head of the Guardia Civil in Ceuta, Colonel Andres Lopez, was sent to the yacht so he could personally offer an apology,” Yahoo News reported.
The Moroccan Times.
