Spanish Navy Increases Presence Near Morocco Amid Airspace Control Talks

The Rayo ship, from the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria base, has been deployed to Melilla, near the waters close to Morocco, in a context where Rabat is seeking to control the airspace of the Sahara, until now managed from the Canary Islands. This week, the Spanish government acknowledged being in talks with Morocco on this issue, sparking a wave of reactions, including from the Canary Islands authorities. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, questioned by the latter, assured that the discussions with Morocco aim to "improve the management" of the airspace of the Sahara.

Spain is also negotiating the delimitation of Spanish and Moroccan territorial waters in the Canary Islands, as they indicated in a letter addressed at the end of October to the Coalition of the Canary Islands. Meanwhile, Morocco is putting pressure on Spain to recover the Spanish-held islands and rocks such as the Chafarinas Islands, Alborán and Perejil, and the rocks of Al Hoceima and Vélez de la Gomera, as well as the islets near Ceuta and Melilla.

The Rayo ship built by Navantia was delivered to the Navy on October 26, 2011. Its main mission is maritime surveillance operations, control of illicit maritime activities and trafficking (of goods and weapons), support to other units, anti-terrorist operations and the fight against human trafficking, intelligence, etc. It is a patrol boat equipped with an Oto Melara 76mm cannon, 2 Browning 12.7mm machine guns, electronic warfare equipment, and an integrated control system that allows it to carry out missions with a reduced crew.