A committee of the Spanish Congress will vote Tuesday on the sovereignty of Ceuta, Melilla and the islets controlled by Spain off the coast of Morocco. Vox is also calling for the suspension of the treaty of friendship if Rabat refuses to recognize their “Spanishness.”
Carles Puigdemont puts the status of Sebta and Melilla back at the centre of the Spanish debate. The former Catalan president calls the two cities “colonies” located in Morocco and proposes submitting their belonging to Spain to a referendum.
The return of Sebta and Melilla to Morocco has abruptly resurfaced in the Spanish debate. An opinion piece published by El País presents this solution as a “historic and realistic” gesture, provoking strong reactions in Spain.
Spain is strengthening its military presence on the islets it controls off the coast of Morocco. Spanish officials reportedly fear imminent Moroccan action amid heightened tensions between Rabat and Madrid.
Spain should return Sebta to Morocco. This is the position defended by Howard W. French, former New York Times correspondent and a renowned specialist on Africa, who believes that Spanish sovereignty over the city rests on a historical anomaly destined to disappear.
Some 70,000 Sahrawis could obtain Spanish nationality through a law that is due to be submitted to Congress on Thursday. The PSOE has decided to support it, but some Socialists acknowledge fearing the consequences for relations with Morocco.
Morocco was not behind the massive arrival of migrants in Sebta at the end of July, Nasser Bourita reportedly assured José Manuel Albares. The Spanish foreign minister also revealed that Rabat had promised to immediately mobilize its resources to stop the flow.
Nasser Bourita reportedly assured his Spanish counterpart that the recent statements by Moroccan ministers regarding Ceuta and Melilla do not reflect Morocco’s official position. José Manuel Albares nevertheless says he is not satisfied with this explanation.
The Spanish government urgently removed a map from its new public housing portal. The document showed Ceuta and Melilla with dotted borders, used for disputed territories, while Western Sahara appeared integrated into Morocco.
New calls are circulating in Morocco for a mobilization on September 20 around Ceuta and Melilla. The National Police, Guardia Civil, CNI and Spanish military intelligence are monitoring the campaign, although a march toward the border has not yet been confirmed.
Spanish economist Santiago Niño Becerra believes that Spain’s departure from Ceuta and Melilla is no longer a question of possibility, but of timing. According to him, the new geopolitical balance now favors Morocco.
As Ceuta and Melilla once again become the focus of tensions between Rabat and Madrid, an old Moroccan Official Bulletin states the Kingdom’s position without beating around the bush: Moroccan territories, Spanish occupation and the desire to recover them.