Albares responds to the US Congress: Ceuta and Melilla are as Spanish as Valladolid and Santiago de Compostela

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares asserted this Monday that “the Spanishness of Ceuta and Melilla, just like that of Valladolid and Santiago de Compostela, is beyond any doubt,” in response to a statement by a US Congressional committee which, amidst diplomatic tensions between Madrid and Washington, questions Spanish sovereignty over the two autonomous cities. As reported by ‘El Confidencial’, a committee of the US House of Representatives stated at the end of April that it “supports the efforts of the Secretary of State (Marco Rubio) to reach a diplomatic compromise between Morocco and Spain on the future of Ceuta and Melilla.” The document, approved in late April by the Appropriations Committee at the urging of Republican Representative Mario Díaz-Balart and which has not yet been voted on by the House of Representatives, states that “the Spanish-administered cities of Ceuta and Melilla are located in Moroccan territory and remain the subject of Morocco’s long-standing claim.” It also highlights the “historic alliance between the United States and Morocco, formalized in 1786 through the Treaty of Friendship and Peace,” and allocates “no less than $20 million” in security aid and military funding to Rabat by 2027. “The Spanishness of Ceuta and Melilla, just like that of Valladolid and Santiago de Compostela, is nonexistent,” Albares told the press from Rome. “Allow me, I am here in the Vatican today; I have just had an audience with the Holy Father and I have come to speak primarily about His Holiness’s upcoming visit to Spain, and nothing more,” he added, without elaborating further. According to ‘El Confidencial’, there is no evidence that Marco Rubio has promoted any talks between Spain and Morocco on this issue to date. Furthermore, the US Congress had never questioned Spanish sovereignty over the two autonomous cities, but Díaz-Balart (of Cuban origin) had previously advocated for negotiations between Madrid and Rabat regarding Ceuta and Melilla, two cities that, as he stated to the newspaper ‘El Español’ in early April, “are not in Spain but in Morocco.” Amid the deterioration of bilateral relations between Spain and the United States due to Spain's stance on the war in Iran and its defense spending, historian and former Pentagon advisor Michael Rubin urged President Donald Trump last March, in an article published by the Middle East Forum think tank, to “correct another historical error and formally recognize Ceuta and Melilla as occupied Moroccan territory.” He also accused Spain of “turning against the West” with its commitment “to anti-Americanism, anti-Zionism, and anti-Semitism.” Michael Rubin even called for a second “Green March” toward Ceuta and Melilla and urged Moroccans to gather at the border, bring bulldozers, and enter the cities unarmed to raise their country’s flag. Israel denies its support for Morocco In this context, several Israeli media outlets recently reported that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government might consider offering diplomatic support to Morocco in its efforts to seize sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla. These reports prompted Israel’s ambassador to Spain, Dana Erlich, to issue a statement last Wednesday, warning that this matter “is not relevant to the current government of Benjamin Netanyahu.” “It is not something we are considering in Israel because it is not relevant at a time like this,” she insisted during a forum in Madrid, quoted by the newspaper ‘The Objective’.

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