US Military Base in Morocco: Reports Suggest Potential Relocation from Spain

Given that the Defense portfolio is not part of his responsibilities, it is possible that El Othmani’s remarks are a simple diplomatic response to a question on which he does not wish to go too far, shares Al Ayyam. Picking up on certain sources, the weekly claims that an agreement in principle would even have been reached between the Moroccan and American authorities, rather concerning the transfer of the American base in Rota, in the Cadiz region in southern Spain, to Morocco and more precisely in the Saharan provinces.

The same media sources indicate that no site has been confirmed, even if the forecasts would place the site in the vicinity of the city of Tan Tan, a region that regularly hosts joint Moroccan-American military maneuvers, "African Lion".

One certainty, a step has indeed been taken with the signing, on the occasion of the visit to Rabat of the former Pentagon chief, Mark Esper, last October, of the "Roadmap for Defense Cooperation 2020-2030, between Morocco and the United States." The announcement of this transfer, whose agreement is soon to expire, will be made very soon, on the sidelines of the opening of the American consulate in Dakhla, the weekly specifies, seeing it as another expression of the tangible support of the United States for the territorial integrity of Morocco, after their recent recognition of the full Moroccanness of the Sahara.

The Kingdom is a key player in preserving the climate of security and stability in North Africa and south of the Mediterranean. For the Pentagon, this agreement comes to renew the alliance between the two countries as a cornerstone for peace in Africa.