Water & Infrastructure: Morocco is pushing ahead with ocean-based desalination as drought becomes a structural risk, aiming for seawater to supply 60% of drinking water by 2030, with a major $650m plant near Casablanca—though costs and brine disposal remain unresolved. Shipping & Border Logistics: Spain and Morocco are gearing up for Operation Marhaba (10 June–15 September), expecting about 3.5 million travellers and roughly 900,000 vehicles across the Strait of Gibraltar, with ports, routes, and digitised controls central to keeping flows moving. Drugs & Maritime Security: A record 30+ tonnes cocaine seizure off Western Sahara (Arconian, 1 May) is linked to a wider West Africa-to-Europe smuggling route tied to Dutch fugitive “Bolle Jos” Leijdekkers, with repeated voyages and sea transfers raising pressure on regional logistics. Construction Materials in the Sahara: Heidelberg Materials (via Ciments du Maroc) says it increased cement output in occupied Western Sahara to nearly 600,000 tonnes in 2025 and supplied concrete/cement for major port and infrastructure projects in El Aaiún and Dakhla. Diplomacy & Conflict Resolution: UN envoy Staffan de Mistura is set to visit Tindouf camps (7–8 June) to help restart negotiations, framed as a push for a realistic, sustainable political process. Mining & Cross-Border Tensions: Mauritanian artisanal miners’ unions deny claims that a Moroccan drone strike targeted Mauritanian prospectors near the Sahara buffer zone, warning misinformation could inflame relations.