"The Spanish government will not authorise the use of the bases for anything beyond the agreement or inconsistent with the United Nations," Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Monday March 2nd in reference to the Naval Base Rota and Moron Air Base.
These are military bases which under Spanish sovereignty but are shared with the United States.
This comes in the context of an escalating war in the Middle East following recent US and Israeli air attacks on Iran which killed the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
READ ALSO: 'Not about democracy' - Spain's FM condemns US-Israel attacks on Iran
The Spanish government's reluctance to participate in a conflict which keeps dragging in an increasing number of countries also represents the latest chapter in Spanish-American diplomatic relations, which has certainly had its ups and downs in recent years.
Former US President Joe Biden referred to Spain as an "indispensable ally" but since Donald Trump returned to the White House, the relationship has very much soured.
In many ways, Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has emerged as the biggest political antithesis of the Trump administration, on everything from defence spending to immigration.
However, this doesn't change the fact that the United States currently has two military bases in Spain, which is shares with Spain.
Germany has the most US military installations in Western Europe with at least 40, followed by the UK and Italy, which according to most reports number under ten. It's worth noting that there are differing claims about the actual number of US military bases in numerous European countries, with some sources saying it comes as a result of the classification of an installation and a major military base often being confused.
Furthermore, there are constant structural and manpower changes occurring, as well as security reasons for such information not being disclosed, which make giving an accurate answer on the true numbers difficult.
And under the presidency of Donald Trump, things could quickly change further still, as there are fears that he could pull out thousands of US troops from the 'old continent' due to his grievances over their Nato spending or the US's involvement in the war in Ukraine.
What is clear is that Spain has two active US military bases in its territory, or rather bases under Spanish command but ceded for US operations through bilateral agreements
Why is there an American military presence in the first place in España? And where are these bases?
History
Emerging from its bloody Civil War and the aftermath of the Second World War, in the late 1940's and early 1950's Spain was an isolated state on the world stage.
It was well known that Franco had sympathised with Hitler and the Axis powers more broadly, and had even sold valuable materials to the Nazis.
READ ALSO: Why Spain is still in the wrong time zone because of Hitler
Shunned by the United States, UK and Russia, Spain was excluded from the United Nations, and suffered severe economic consequences of being a pariah state as a dictatorship in an increasingly democratising world.
It wasn’t until 1953 when US President Eisenhower signed the Pact of Madrid, that Spanish-American relations began to thaw.
Knowing that they would need Spain's support against communism in the Cold War, the pact provided Americans with a naval base in Rota in Cádiz province, Andalusia, and three Air Force bases in Morón, south of Seville; Torrejón, on the outskirts of Madrid; and Zaragoza, in northern Spain, in exchange for military equipment and financial aid.
Rota Naval base
The joint Spanish-American Rota Naval base is commanded by a Spanish Vice Admiral, and is an important entryway to the Atlantic Ocean with both an airfield and port. Strategically, the Rota base is key to American (and by extension NATO) interests because of its proximity to the Straight of Gibraltar - where over a quarter of global maritime traffic passes through every year - and it is a geographic midpoint between Southwest Asia and the United States.
The Straight of Gibraltar is an incredibly important naval route for both the United States and NATO not only because of the sheer volume of maritime traffic passes through it every year, but because it links the Mediterranean and Atlantic and would be a key route for deploying forces by sea during a conflict.
Control of the Straight of Gibraltar was traditionally left to British forces on its overseas territory, but the growth of Ronda (which is one of the largest allied bases in the region) means that Spanish ships have taken on some responsibilities.
Stretching over 6,000 acres (24 km2) along the Cádiz coastline, the Rota base is the largest American military community in Spain, home to both US Marine Corps and US Navy personnel, as well as small numbers of US Army and US Air Force fighters.
Rota is also key to American interests as it allows for rapid support of both U.S and NATO ships. It also supports and protects the movement of US Navy and US Air Force flights, and supplies fuel, ammunition and cargo to units in the region.
Morón Air Force base
Also in Andalusia, Morón Air Force, about 30km south of Seville, was actually already an Air Force base before the Madrid Pact was signed. The base was then upgraded and operations began in 1958.
The base is not without controversy, however. In 1966 two American planes crashed while refuelling in mid-air, killing 7 crew members and causing hydrogen bombs to land in the proximity of the small fishing village of Palomares.
Two of the bombs detonated and contaminated an area of 2km2 area, and another fell into the Mediterranean. As a result, American B-52 bomber planes were not allowed on the Morón base until 1983.
In 1971, the base was relegated to "modified caretaker status", and Torrejón became the main support base for the Spanish Air Force.
In 1991, however, Morón was heavily involved in the Gulf War and then again for fighting in Kosovo in 1999. From 2001 onwards operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan were supported from the base, and the southern base was also used a base for operations into Libya in 2011.
At full capacity, it is believed up to 3,000 American troops from African Crisis Response team can be stationed at Morón, and up to 40 aircraft stored.
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