The history of the small Cadiz town of Rota cannot be understood without the United States, without the American presence at the naval base shared by the armies of both countries. In a way, Rota is like a piece of the US outside the US, with its nearly 7,000 Americans as permanent neighbors, mostly military personnel plus civilian staff and families.
That has been the case (and continues to be so) for decades, and for that reason, the visit this Friday by King Felipe VI is far from coincidental and has been full of gestures and symbolism. Not in vain, the two events he attended were directly related to the US and its relations with Spain, all at a time when Hispanic-American ties are not going through their best moment.
Felipe VI returned to the Rota military base once again, although on this occasion on a day as significant as the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which dealt an unprecedented blow to the world's leading power on all fronts. The King participated, alongside Ambassador Benjamín León, in a tribute to the victims of those terrorist attacks, which featured a floral offering, a flyover by aircraft, and the respective national anthems.
This was not the first time Felipe VI paid tribute to the 9/11 victims in Rota. In fact, in 2001, fifteen days after the attacks, he attended a similar event at the same military base where this Friday he sought to make clear the Spanish people's solidarity with the American people.
His gesture did not go unnoticed, and the American ambassador made a point of emphasizing that Americans will "never" forget that "in those difficult days," Spain, "which would suffer its own terrorist attack on March 11, 2004, stood by our side." "Spain was present from the beginning," he expressed with gratitude.
The King was accompanied by the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, with whom he held a follow-up meeting on Monday regarding the Ceuta crisis. That meeting was also attended by the Chief of the Defense Staff (JEMAD), Admiral General Teodoro Esteban López Calderón; the Chief of the Operations Command, Lieutenant General José Antonio Agüero; the Chief of the Terrestrial Operational Command, Lieutenant General Julio Salom; and the Commander General of Ceuta, Major General Luis Jesús Fernández Herrero. That gathering took place at the Zarzuela Palace and had a huge impact due to its significance amid criticism of the Pedro Sánchez government's inaction and its insistence on exculpating Morocco from what happened.
The event at the Rota Naval Base was also attended by the Government Delegate in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández; the Mayor of Rota, José Javier Ruiz; the Admiral of the Fleet, José Enrique Delgado; the Regional Minister of Culture, Historical Heritage, and Sports of the Regional Government of Andalusia, Patricia del Pozo; as well as Spanish and American civil and military authorities.
The second event presided over by the King in Rota was the inauguration of Base Fórum, a kind of interpretation center about the relationship between the Cadiz municipality and the Americans, especially regarding the base. It also serves as a strong assertion of identity, given that the American presence in the town is one of its economic engines and a fundamental part of its character.
Rota opens its special museum at a critical moment in relations between the Spanish and US governments, marked by direct and open confrontation between the two presidents, Pedro Sánchez and Donald Trump, and recurring threats from the latter to order the withdrawal of American troops from Rota to relocate them elsewhere—a possibility that sends shivers through Rota due to its consequences.
Some time ago, the Mayor of Rota, Javier Ruiz, planned to open this museum not only to preserve and showcase the shared history of Rota and the Americans, but also as an added tourist attraction. However, the tensions between the two governments and Trump's threats to leave the Cadiz base have given the initiative an added dimension.
It spans more than 2,300 square meters located in the former municipal warehouses on Avenida de la Diputación, packed with objects and testimonies attesting to the long-standing bond between the US and Rota, ranging from photographs to helicopters and even a fire truck used at the base.
