Spain has the key to the next invasion of the Pentagon

In 1942, while preparing Operation Torch to land tens of thousands of Allied soldiers in North Africa, General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived to a conclusion that would mark American military strategy for the following decades: a war does not depend only on soldiers or weapons, but on the ability to move them to the right place. That operation turned the Strait of Gibraltar into an essential piece.

More than 80 years later, the map still says practically the same thing.

The US threatens, the truth is very different. donald trump hardened again his speech against Spain to the point of proposing the breakdown of commercial relations due to discrepancies over military spending and the position of the Spanish Government within NATO. On paper, it seemed like the beginning of a rift between both countries.

However, it is enough to observe the movements of the Department of Defense itself to discover an obvious contradiction: while the White House raises the political tone, the Pentagon continues allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to reinforce the two most important US military bases in southern Europe. In fact, hours later Trump himself turned back to the threats: “I must admit that I had problems with Spain, and I still do, but today Spain completely redeemed itself. Spain was very generous today. They agreed to an important payment request, and if they had not done so, we would not have even spoken to them,” he indicated.

The valuable letter of Spain. The true origin of the clash was not in the tariffs, but in Iran. When Washington requested to use Rota, Morón and Spanish airspace during the operation against the Iranian regime, Madrid refusedforcing the United States to reorganize part of its deployment from Germany and France.

That decision recalled something that for decades had remained almost invisible: although the United States invests billions in both facilities, they remain baces under Spanish sovereignty and its use depends, ultimatelywith the approval of the Spanish Government.

The US response: more money. It we count at the time. What is striking is that the American reaction did not consist of preparing an exit from Spain. Just a few months after the veto, the US Air Force awarded a framework contract of about 400 million of dollars to maintain and modernize Morón during the next decade, guaranteeing its operation until 2036.

Far from being interpreted as retaliation, the investment sent exactly the opposite message: the strategic value of the base is so high that no specific political disagreement justifies failing to reinforce it.

The track was broken. A few days later a second, even more significant decision appeared. Washington announced the construction in Rota of a huge hangar designed for accommodate transport aircraft strategic as C-17 Globemaster and the gigantic C-5 Galaxydevices capable of transporting battle tanks, helicopters, air defense systems or hundreds of soldiers in a single flight.

In an era in which the speed of moving troops is almost as important as weapons, expanding that capacity means preparing for future operations, not abandoning the base.

The explanation is on a map. Rota occupies the entrance to the Mediterranean, one of the most important maritime corridors of the planet, while Morón connects Europe with North Africa and the Middle East in a few hours. Together they form a logistical bridge from which the United States can move ships, aircraft, fuel, ammunition and personnel to various theaters of operations almost simultaneously.

Changing that combination to another location does not simply consist of moving troops to another European base: it would involve rebuilding for years a logistical infrastructure that already exists and works today.

The impossibility of changing a geography. The own published analyzes The United States agrees that losing access to Rota and Morón would place an additional burden on US forces, even if they could redistribute part of their capabilities to other allied countries.

The problem, therefore, does not lie only in the hangars, docks or fuel tanks, but in the place where they are built. Andalusia continues to be the natural gateway to the Mediterranean, Africa and the Middle East, exactly as it was during the Second World War.

The Spanish asset: military logistics. That is why it is difficult to imagine that the business threats end up one day becoming a real rupture between both countries. Trump can use Spain as a political argument in his speeches, but the Pentagon has been sending a completely different signal for months with your budget.

Every dollar invested in Morón and every new infrastructure built in Rota reminds us of an uncomfortable reality for Washington: when the next major international crisis, attempted invasion or start of a new war arrives, there is an extremely high possibility that the path towards it will begin again in southern Spain.

Image | Commander, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa/US 6th Fleet

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The same day that the US threatened Spain and said it did not need the Rota base, the US invested 13 million in expanding the Rota base