Galician nationalists reject the conversion of the Naval Academy in Marín into a NATO support base

The Diplomat The Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) has protested to the Ministry of Defense regarding the planned works to convert the Naval Academy in Marín (Pontevedra) into a support base for NATO warships. In a parliamentary question submitted on February 17, Néstor Rego Candamil, a BNG deputy affiliated with the Mixed Parliamentary Group in Congress, reported on “a series of investments to convert the Naval Academy in Marín into a support base for NATO warships,” through a Navy project called “upgrading of pontoons and paving in the inner harbor.” According to the BNG, the Ministry of Defense intends to make “a significant investment to expand the port area so that NATO ships can dock, in addition to undertaking improvements to the support facilities.” This investment of public funds for military spending “cannot be allocated to other social policies” and, furthermore, “goes against the majority demand of the residents of Marín who support the ‘Open Marín to the Sea’ initiative,” the BNG continues. Néstor Rego also warns that the dredging of the harbor bottom and the reconstruction of breakwaters “could have significant consequences for the estuary's ecosystem, altering currents and sand deposits to benefit only military vessel traffic.” He adds, “the expansion of these structures will once again work against the potential release of land for public use, such as recreational areas and water sports facilities.” In short, it is “an estimated investment of almost two and a half million euros in military spending that will hardly have a positive impact on the municipality,” he concludes. For all these reasons, the BNG asks the Government “what are the reasons that lead the Ministry of Defense, after denying the possibility of ceding part of the land in the area of the sports fields and the nearby port for public use because it is necessary for the use of the School, to sacrifice that same land to enable the infrastructure for receiving NATO ships.” In its response, registered on March 24 and published this week in the Official Gazette of the Spanish Parliament (BOCG), the Ministry of Defense states that the Naval Military School (ENM) “has been registering a sustained increase in its training activity since 2010,” which entails the need “to have adequate infrastructure in terms of accommodation, teaching, instruction, and logistical support.” “Within this context of increased activity lie the modernization projects of facilities currently in the bidding phase, whose main objective is the updating of infrastructure dating back to 1943,” it continues. “These actions, planned for the 2026-2028 cycle, include the upgrading of docks and paving in the inner harbor, dredging of the harbor and reconstruction of breakwaters, as well as adapting the cruise ship dock for its technical compatibility with frigate-type vessels in accordance with NATO standards,” it adds. “Notwithstanding the above, institutional collaboration between the Navy and the Marín City Council remains a priority, within the framework of ongoing dialogue and inter-administrative cooperation, safeguarding at all times the interests related to the training of future Navy officers and the needs of National Defense,” it concludes.

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