Whether it be US Congressional budget reports, Israeli newspaper columns or shifting geopolitics, there are some suggesting that Spain’s sovereignty claims on its two autonomous cities in North Africa could be coming under threat.
A single paragraph hidden in the footnotes of a US Congressional bill has sparked debate over Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, Spain’s autonomous cities in North Africa.
A report from the House of Representatives influential Appropriations Committee clearly describes both North African enclaves as being “in Moroccan territory” but “under Spanish administration”, whilst encouraging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider the future status of both territories.
This comes as a column in an Israeli newspaper has claimed that shifting geopolitics and deteriorating diplomatic relations between Madrid and Washington could make Moroccan claims on Ceuta and Melilla stronger.
READ ALSO: Why are Ceuta and Melilla Spanish?
The column has been picked up and reported in the Spanish press, with online outlet 20 Minutos running the headline: “Should Spain be concerned about Ceuta and Melilla? The Morocco-US-Israel axis looms over the waters of the Strait”.
The Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla are Europe’s only landmasses in continental Africa. Melilla first fell under Spanish rule in 1497, and Ceuta, which was a Portuguese territory from 1415, was given to Spain under the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668.
Their borders with Morocco are the only physical borders between Europe and Africa and they have for centuries existed as places of contested sovereignty that ebb and flow alongside other political tensions in the region.
Now the US footnote has brought that back into focus.
The full paragraph in the budget bill reads as follows: “The Committee notes that the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, which are under Spanish administration, are situated on Moroccan territory and have long been the subject of a claim by Morocco. The Committee supports the Secretary of State’s efforts to encourage a diplomatic compromise between Morocco and Spain on the future status of Ceuta and Melilla”.
This is the furthest the US has gone in publicly entertaining Moroccan sovereignty claims.
A confluence of factors — war, diplomacy, economics, new alliances, along with the US budget bill — indirectly affecting the tiny overseas cities mean that some see an opportunity for Morocco to reclaim them.
One Spanish paper asks: “The perfect storm over the waters of the Strait?” Another talks of “diplomatic fears that Trump may settle scores with Sánchez via Ceuta and Melilla following the “first warning” at the Capitol”.
This follows repeated instances of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government refusing to toe the line from Washington and champion a left-leaning foreign policy.
One column, in Israel outlet Ynet, claims that these tensions between Madrid and Washington could put Spanish sovereignty in danger.
The columnist, Amine Ayoub, described as a pro-Israeli Moroccan columnist, writes: “Spain’s refusal to allow the United States access to its Rota and Morón military bases during the Iran campaign, its consistent failure to meet NATO defense spending targets, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s confrontational posture toward the Trump administration have collectively generated something rare in North African affairs: a genuine crack in Spain’s strategic armor over Ceuta and Melilla.”
“The geopolitical earthquake shaking Washington’s relationship with Madrid has opened an unexpected window for one of the Arab world’s oldest territorial grievances,” Ayoub writes.
When contacted by 20minutos, Ayoub denied having conveyed any official position from the Israeli authorities and insists he wrote a purely personal analysis. He also suggested that Rabat is not planning any diplomatic manoeuvres in the near future.
Israel and Spain have in recent years clashed very publicly over Gaza, with the latter arguably being the most progressive country internationally in recent years.
“I wrote my opinion on how Israel could help Morocco in Ceuta and Melilla,” Ayoub said.
“Morocco could be pushed by the United States and Israel to reclaim the two cities for reasons of national security in the Strait of Gibraltar area and having a partner like Pedro Sánchez’s current Spain, although Rabat has no short-term interest in the matter,” he added.
The Trump administration has moved closer to Rabat in recent years, especially during his second term. His is the first in American history to recognise Morocco’s full sovereignty over Western Sahara, another contested territory in the region.
Similarly, Rabat has remained within the Abraham Accords dispute ongoing conflict and humanitarian crises in the Middle East.
Spanish diplomatic sources, however, admit they saw this coming, telling El Espaňol: “We just had to wait; Sánchez has been seeking confrontation with Trump from day one,” sums up a veteran source, who interprets the text as “a first warning from the Capitol”.
That’s not all. In March the American Enterprise Institute’s Michael Rubin, described Spain as “a colonial power running colonies across the Strait of Gibraltar” and suggested Washington recognise Moroccan claims.
Furthermore, Mario Díaz-Balart, chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Security, claimed recently that Ceuta and Melilla “are not in the geographic territory of Spain” and it should be “established, negotiated, and discussed between friends and allies.”
