The new American destroyers will not arrive in Rota this year

The arrival of two new destroyer ships at the Rota naval base (Cádiz) is not imminent, according to Defense Ministry sources.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
30 June 2022 Thursday 23:00
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The new American destroyers will not arrive in Rota this year

The arrival of two new destroyer ships at the Rota naval base (Cádiz) is not imminent, according to Defense Ministry sources. It is the United States that will mark the times with a calendar that has not yet been specified by the Government, but that will be longer than could be assumed at first when the news was known.

However, the President of the Government, at the press conference held at the end of the summit, stated that the renewal of the agreement for the use of the bases will be made soon.

The first of the US destroyers – whose length is equivalent to the length of a football field – arrived in Rota in 2014. Currently there are four that are part of the NATO anti-missile shield erected to protect its allies. Of the 3,200 soldiers who inhabit the base, 1,300 are stationed on these ships. The expansion announced after the meeting between Pedro Sánchez and Joe Biden would entail two new destroyers and some 600 more uniformed personnel on national ground.

The increase in soldiers – up to 3,200 – does not imply the modification of the defense agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United States, since the presence of up to 4,250 soldiers is authorized. But it is not the case of the increase in destroyers, which must be approved: first in the Council of Ministers and then ratified in the Congress of Deputies. And it is here that Pedro Sánchez will have to deal with his coalition partners in the first place and then add parliamentary support for the definitive green light.

Sources from the ministry led by Margarita Robles have transmitted during the NATO summit that ended yesterday in Madrid, that this year they will not see the waters of Rota see the ships appear, which are already expected by the local population as May water due to the economic impact and labor that it will contribute to the area, since the maintenance of these ships is in Spanish hands. “Up to a year they can take to arrive”, they advance. The same government sources explain that the increase will depend on US availability and the foreseeable works that must be undertaken to house the ships.

Sánchez, a priori, will have no problem modifying the cooperation agreement because Alberto Núñez Feijóo's Popular Party has already extended a hand to him. The Minister of Defense telephoned Genoa to report the measure. In a “cordial” conversation –in the words of Robles– she informed the PP Institutional Deputy Secretary, Esteban González Pons, of the agreement sealed with Biden. However, he did not ask for his support in the necessary parliamentary procedure. "I have not asked for anything at all because I understand that these things are not appropriate to ask for, when one has a sense of State, one will know what to do," he assured in the corridors of Ifema, where the Atlantic Alliance summit took place.

The president of the Popular Party replied hours later: "We are where we have always been [...] We are not aware of the United States proposal, but the Government can count on us to practice a State policy." The popular votes together with the Socialists add up to 209 of the 350 seats. But something different from the figures is the wear and tear that the president is willing to assume if a new schism opens up in the government over this matter.

Sánchez, who was exultant at the achievements made by the Government at the summit, was more than brief on this issue during the final press conference. In fact, it was the only question during the three-day date that he has answered with one word. “When will you take the enlargement to the Council of Ministers?”. "Soon".