Retired Spanish Colonel Calls for Gibraltar Strait Toll to Benefit Ceuta and Melilla
A retired Spanish colonel has proposed charging vessels to cross the Strait of Gibraltar, with the revenue going to Ceuta and Melilla. In an analysis published on October 5, he also called for stronger surveillance in response to what he sees as Morocco challenging Spanish influence.
The proposal appears in an article by Juan López Díaz, a former marine infantry colonel, published by the Naval Thought Center on the Spanish Navy’s website. The opinion piece examines the commercial, energy and military issues surrounding the passage between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
The officer raises the possibility that a toll could one day be imposed on vessels crossing the strait, with the proceeds benefiting the two enclaves. He draws a comparison with the situation and negotiations surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.
His concern for Ceuta also features in his analysis of the proposed tunnel between Morocco and Spain. The planned link would connect to the area around Tangier, a city he describes as a major competitor to Spanish ports.
Juan López Díaz argues that a connection to Ceuta should be planned, either underwater or above ground, even if Spain has to finance it alone. Without such a link, he considers the city’s prospects unfavorable. The maritime toll and tunnel are thus discussed from the same perspective: preserving the enclaves’ role in exchanges between the two shores.
He wants the Navy to take charge of coordination
In its October 6 follow-up, Canarias en Pleno focuses mainly on the colonel’s accusations against Rabat. He speaks of Moroccan “hybrid actions” and believes the kingdom is seeking to draw the United States and Israel closer at the expense of Spanish interests.
His criticism also targets Madrid. He accuses successive governments of handling the issues of Ceuta, Melilla, Gibraltar, the Sahara and maritime borders separately, without a common strategy that takes their interactions into account.
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On the ground, he points to the division of responsibilities among the Navy, the Guardia Civil, customs services and maritime rescue. He calls for more surveillance and defense resources in an area crossed by merchant ships and by electric and telecommunications cables.
To coordinate these resources, the former military officer proposes a single authority under the responsibility of the Navy. Information gathered by radars, ships and aircraft would be sent to a shared center, tasked with bringing it together to monitor activity in the strait.
