Morocco, the future pillar of NATO’s southern flank instead of Spain?

Located in Andalusia, these facilities constitute the pillar of the Alliance’s southern flank. The naval base of Rota, ideally located facing the Strait of Gibraltar, houses in particular destroyers equipped with the ultra-sophisticated AEGIS missile defense system. As El Debate points out, this crucial operational synergy "is neither improvised nor reproduced anywhere else in the western Mediterranean".

On Bladi.net: Defense: Morocco will not (yet) replace the Rota and Morón bases

However, faced with the reluctance of the current Spanish government to support its American ally, media close to Rabat see it as a real "historic opportunity". While a complete transfer to the kingdom is currently unthinkable - Morocco not being a member of NATO and lacking the legal framework to host classified technologies - the risk of a partial relocation is taken very seriously.

On Bladi.net: American bases: why a transfer from Spain to Morocco remains highly unlikely

The logistical functions currently assigned to the Morón de la Frontera base (air operations, hospitals, supply) could very well be relocated on Moroccan soil. Such diversification would cause the Iberian Peninsula to lose its strategic centrality, leading to "irreversible" economic damage for the thousands of local families and businesses that depend on these bases.