Ceuta, Melilla, Perejil: “Recognize Spanish sovereignty” or suspend the treaty of friendship
A committee of the Spanish Congress will vote Tuesday on the sovereignty of Ceuta, Melilla and the islets controlled by Spain off the coast of Morocco. Vox is also calling for the suspension of the treaty of friendship if Rabat refuses to recognize their “Spanishness.”
The vote will take place on Tuesday, September 22, before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress of Deputies. The non-binding proposal submitted by Vox calls on Spanish parties to reaffirm Spain’s “full and indisputable” sovereignty over all its territories located in North Africa.
The text cites Ceuta and Melilla, but also the Chafarinas Islands, the Rock of Vélez de la Gomera, Perejil Island (Leila), as well as the Al Hoceima Islands and Rock. It calls on Congress to reject Morocco’s “claims” to these territories.
Vox thus intends to force the Socialist Party and its left-wing and pro-independence allies to state their positions publicly, a few days after the controversy sparked by an op-ed proposing that Ceuta and Melilla be returned to Morocco.
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According to Europa Press, the party also wants statements by Moroccan officials disputing Spanish sovereignty over the two cities to be condemned.
Recognize Spanish sovereignty or suspend the treaty
The proposal goes further than a simple political declaration. It calls on Pedro Sánchez’s government to demand from Rabat a “public, explicit and unequivocal” recognition of Spanish sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla.
If Morocco refuses, Vox wants Madrid to immediately initiate the suspension of the treaty of friendship, good-neighborliness and cooperation concluded between the two countries. The party believes that Moroccan claims are incompatible with the principles of this agreement.
The Spanish foreign minister would also be invited to summon Morocco’s ambassador to inform him of Spain’s intention to defend its territory “with all the instruments and means at the disposal of the State.”
If the Moroccan claims are maintained and what Vox calls the “invasion” of Ceuta continues, the text calls for the expulsion of the Moroccan ambassador and the recall of the Spanish representative in Rabat.
The proposal also demands that Morocco accept, without exception, the return of its nationals expelled from Spain. It also seeks to make any economic, migration, police, military or diplomatic cooperation conditional on respect for Spanish sovereignty.
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Vox had already presented some of these demands to Congress a few days earlier. The motion was rejected, which suggests a similar outcome on Tuesday. Even if adopted by the committee, the text would not legally oblige the Spanish government to suspend its relations with Rabat.
The vote nevertheless takes place amid heightened tensions. Madrid recently deemed that Moroccan claims over Ceuta and Melilla were damaging bilateral relations, while Spain is strengthening its presence around the islets located off the coast of Morocco.
Vox’s proposal will above all make it possible to determine the official position of each parliamentary group on all these territories, including Leila Island, control of which had already triggered a serious crisis between Rabat and Madrid in 2002.
