The president of Congress invokes the Wad-Ras treaty to affirm the Spanishness of Ceuta and Melilla in the face of possible Moroccan threats

In Congress, the president invoked the Treaty of Wad-Ras as undeniable confirmation of the Spanish character of Ceuta and Melilla. That agreement ended the War of Africa in 1860, a century before the birth of modern Morocco, and entailed, among other things, the Sultan’s acceptance of a larger perimeter for Ceuta and Melilla. But history moves and does not remain frozen in archival files. Constantinople fell, Rome fell, Cuba and Sidi Ifni were lost—sovereignty over the latter also guaranteed in Wad-Ras—without any rigorous jurist being able to raise substantial objections. And Ceuta and Melilla will fall if there is no genuine will to defend them.

The first step in addressing a threat is to acknowledge it. Until now, the Spanish government has denied that there is evidence of a new version of the Green March, even though it is evident to numerous experts and to the rest of the political forces in Parliament, including the executive’s junior coalition partner. In the absence of more precise details, the events leave two main hypotheses: either it was a colossal exercise in incompetence—hardly credible in a regime like Morocco’s—or a directed and planned attack, perhaps spiraling out of control, in which human ammunition was used to breach the border.

One need not look too far back in time to find striking precedents clearly linked to Rabat, such as the 2021 assault in the same setting. Morocco has the patience to dispute every inch and to pace its conquests over years or decades, until there is nothing left to defend or doing so becomes too costly. The defense of our borders in Africa is entirely in its hands, those of a country that openly aspires to control Spanish territory. A bad deal.

In the attack on Ceuta, desperate masses were used. In Germany, ghost drones attempt to leave no trace. Until now, German authorities have approached this low-intensity conflict with caution, generically pointing to foreign powers, although all suspicions focused on Moscow. This time, they have openly pointed to Russia, and Brussels has backed them. The warning serves Berlin to Europeanize the response.