Amid mounting tensions with Morocco, Spain’s army chief inspects Melilla
The chief of staff of the Spanish Army visited Melilla to examine the situation of the garrison, its equipment and its facilities. The visit comes less than three weeks after Spain’s highest-ranking military official visited Melilla and Sebta.
General Amador Enseñat y Berea carried out an inspection visit to the Comandancia General de Melilla on Monday, 21 September. The Spanish Ministry of Defence said the visit was intended to enable him to maintain “direct contact” with local authorities and military personnel assigned to the city.
The army chief was first received at the command headquarters, where the heads of the military units, centres and organisations presented him with an overview of their activities and the situation of the garrison, reports Europa Press.
Amador Enseñat then met with the president of Melilla, Juan José Imbroda, as well as the Spanish government’s delegate, Sabrina Moh. He was accompanied by the city’s commanding general, Major General Luis Cortés Delgado.
On Bladi.net : The Spanish army chief arrives in Melilla and Ceuta amid crisis with Morocco
The military official also inspected the equipment, simulators and facilities used by the various units. His visit ended at Alfonso XIII base, where he spoke with officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel about their working conditions and professional experiences.
Two military inspections in less than three weeks
His schedule nevertheless gives the visit particular significance. At the beginning of September, the chief of staff of the Spanish Defence Staff, Admiral Teodoro Esteban López Calderón, had already travelled to Melilla and then to Sebta to meet with local commanders and civilian authorities.
The two visits did not concern the same level of responsibility. Teodoro Esteban López Calderón commands all the Spanish armed forces, while Amador Enseñat commands the army. Their rapid succession nevertheless shows the attention Madrid is paying to its garrisons located north of Morocco.
This activity comes during a period of strong diplomatic tensions. The Spanish government recently said that Moroccan claims over Sebta and Melilla were damaging relations between the two countries. Madrid is simultaneously insisting on the Spanish character of these territories and strengthening its surveillance around the strait.
The Spanish Defence Ministry was also authorised to provide Sebta with additional personnel, logistical, medical and communications resources following the mass crossings recorded at the end of July. More than 150 additional military personnel from the Canary Islands were mobilised at the time.
On Bladi.net : 72,000 crossings from Morocco: Spain deploys the military option in Ceuta
The army chief’s visit to Melilla therefore officially remains an inspection of the units already present. But taking place less than three weeks after that of the senior official responsible for the armed forces confirms that the two cities are now subject to particularly close military monitoring in Madrid.
