Spain’s Popular Party (PP) is moving to escalate the debate in Parliament over Morocco’s growing military capabilities and deepening defense cooperation with the United States, calling on Pedro Sánchez’s government to provide explanations about the potential implications of these developments for Spain’s security, particularly amid the migration crisis in occupied Ceuta.
The PP’s parliamentary group in the Spanish Senate has registered a series of questions addressed to the government, seeking written answers regarding Morocco’s military reinforcements and growing cooperation between Rabat and Washington, according to Spanish newspaper Libertad Digital.
According to the same source, the party is focusing, through its parliamentary initiative, on what it considers a notable development in Morocco’s military capabilities in the north of the Kingdom, at a time when the repercussions of the recent Ceuta crisis remain part of Spain’s political and security debate.
The Spanish newspaper reported that the parliamentary move comes after Spanish reports spoke of Morocco continuing to strengthen its military presence in the north, including the development of a military facility on Mount Gurugú near Melilla, alongside the deployment or transfer of radars, air defense systems and other military capabilities in the area.
The newspaper quoted PP parliamentarian José Antonio Monago as saying that the new base could be intended to accommodate drones and missiles, alongside radars and anti-aircraft systems, arguing that the development of these capabilities in the vicinity of Ceuta and Melilla raises, from his party’s perspective, questions related to Spanish national security.
The PP is calling on the Sánchez government to disclose the information it has regarding the construction of the new Moroccan military base and the nature of the capabilities planned to be deployed there, at a time when there is no official information published by Rabat confirming all the details reported by the Spanish media about the facility.
This comes amid deepening defense cooperation between Morocco and the United States, under a roadmap covering the period from 2026 to 2036, signed last April and aimed at expanding military cooperation between the two countries.
According to U.S. documents and proposals, the roadmap includes exploring the establishment of security cooperation sites in Morocco, strengthening counterterrorism efforts and modernizing Moroccan military capabilities, as well as developing joint training and cooperation in the fields of drones, intelligence and multidomain operations.
The PP is calling on the Spanish government to clarify its assessment of the impact of strengthening Morocco’s military capabilities with U.S. support on the security of Ceuta and Melilla and on Spain’s strategic position in the Strait of Gibraltar, criticizing what it considers a lack of sufficient government explanations regarding these developments.
The move comes amid a sensitive political context between Madrid and Rabat, after the recent Ceuta crisis brought the issues of borders, migration and Moroccan-Spanish relations back to the forefront, while also sparking debate in Spain over the authorities’ readiness to deal with any future crises along its southern borders.
