The Diplomat
The Spanish Navy’s General Staff authorized the entry of a US military vessel into Canary Islands waters in early January, whose presence caused concern in the area, due to “adverse weather.”
This was communicated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Cristina Valido, a MP of the Coalición Canaria on February 24. In the response, published this Monday in the Official Gazette of Congress, the government states that US authorities requested on January 2, “through established channels,” the entry of the vessel “Cape Texas” into Spanish territorial waters “for protection due to adverse weather conditions from January 5 to 8.” This request was authorized by the Naval General Staff and notified to the United States authorities “through the established diplomatic channels,” it adds.
In her parliamentary question, Cristina Valido reports that, “on January 5, a United States cargo ship called ‘Cape Texas,’ belonging to that country’s Department of Maritime Administration, began making a series of strange trajectories in waters between the islands of Tenerife and La Palma.”
“After remaining on a course of no particular course for more than 40 hours and averaging a speed of between fourteen and sixteen knots, the cargo ship changed course again and opted to position itself in waters northeast of the island of Gran Canaria,” she continues.
“Already in the early hours of January 8, this United States vessel—which is of a military nature—abandoned its anarchic course and headed east, once again changing course on the high seas, with its nearest point of land being La Isleta, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,” she continues.
“After this strange course in recent days, a request to enter the port was received, a maneuver that was carried out at approximately 2:30 p.m. on January 8th in the North Harbour of the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,” she added.
Therefore, the Canarian MP asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs if it had “been aware,” and if so, “what the reason was, of the maneuvers near the Canary Islands carried out between January 5th and 8th, 2025, by the US military cargo ship ‘Cape Texas.'”
According to the Tenerife newspaper ‘Atlántico Hoy,’ the ‘Cape Texas,’ attached to the US Military Sealift Command (MSC), is a military cargo ship used for logistics transport. During its stay in the Canary Islands, a visible cargo of military jeeps and all-terrain vehicles could be seen on its deck, sparking speculation about its mission.
Separately, according to the specialized website Defensa.com, the Cape Texas is one of the large logistics transport vessels operating under the control of the United States Maritime Administration (USMA) to carry out strategic prepositioning of materiel and vehicles, primarily for the US Army and US Marines, throughout the world, as part of Washington’s global defense strategy.
This incident, according to the aforementioned Canarian newspaper, has reopened the debate on the use of the Canary Islands as a logistics base for foreign military operations. In the past, various sectors have expressed concern about the frequent presence of military vessels in Canary Islands waters, especially those belonging to NATO and the United States.
