Navy

After Brexit, Spain’s Rota base will be new strategic HQ for the EU

The southern Spanish town of Rota, in Cádiz province, is already home to the Spanish Navy’s biggest military base, and also to what is probably the largest US naval base in all of southern Europe. But after Brexit, in March of next year, Rota will also house one of the European Union’s five operational headquarters (OHQ), replacing the current one at Northwood, in Eastbury, Hertfordshire.

Rota also hopes to replace Northwood as headquarters of Operation Atalanta, the EU naval mission that fights piracy off the coast of Somalia. But this role is also coveted by Italy.

Milex 18, a military exercise that is taking place in Rota between April 13 and ends this coming Wednesday, will serve to certify the base’s new role as an OHQ, ready to command any mission or operation within the framework of the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP).

Spain’s Defense Minister María Dolores de Cospedal and a delegation of diplomatic and military representatives from the EU and NATO are scheduled to visit Rota today to witness part of the exercise.

Rota is widely expected to pass the test. The naval base is already home to four US guided missile destroyers and to the Spanish fleet’s general headquarters. The site is prepared to handle more demanding missions that the “non-executive” ones typically carried out by the EU.