MADRID: Moroccan warships sailed into Ceuta’s waters during and after the migrant influx in July, in a rare breach of Spanish sovereignty in the north African territory claimed by Rabat, media reported on Monday.
The news comes as the first royal visit to Ceuta since 2007 is scheduled, which might put pressure on Spain’s traditionally fraught relations with Morocco over the city’s status. Spanish daily El Pais stated, citing anonymous “sources with knowledge of these incidents,” that at least one Moroccan frigate and numerous patrol boats entered Spanish waters without prior permission.
It was not a minor crossover or an accidental entry, but rather a planned and persistent breach of territorial seas, for which there are few precedents,” El Pais said, citing the anonymous sources. Morocco’s naval incursions continued in the first days of August with high tensions and nearly caused a collision between military boats from the two countries,” El Pais said.
It said only the Spanish navy and the defence ministry had prevented the Moroccan assaults. Questions have emerged about the possible involvement Rabat played in the unprecedented lethal migration of over 70,000 refugees from Morocco into Ceuta on July 30-31. The Spanish right accuses Morocco of engineering the incursions for political reasons, with Rabat claiming sovereignty over Ceuta and Spain’s other north African colony, Melilla.
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