According to the newspaper, this plan will result in the deployment of an additional 600 servicemen on the Company’s base.
U.S. authorities want to increase their military presence at Rota base in Cadiz province (Andalusia Autonomous Community) by 50%. This was reported by the newspaper El Pais on Wednesday, citing its own sources.
According to her, the goal of Washington is to strengthen the role of the facility as the main American naval base in southern Europe. The proposal provides for an increase in the number of Arleigh Burke class destroyers deployed in the Rotte from four to six, as well as replacement of the current ships with more modern, equipped with helicopters.
If the plan is implemented, it will lead to the deployment of an additional 600 servicemen on the base, and will also require reform of the bilateral agreement between Spain and the U.S. of 1988, which has already been changed three times. According to the publication, negotiations between the parties at the political level will begin after a government is formed in the Pyrenees’ kingdom.
Spanish authorities are already ready to give their consent to replace the four destroyers who arrived in Rota during 2014 and 2015 with more modern ships, which will begin to arrive from 2020 to 2022. These changes will not lead to exceeding the limit of authorized American personnel on the basis of: 4.2 thousand military and 1 thousand civilians.