Spain will be part of the Prosperity Guardian operation (Guardians of Prosperity) to guarantee the security of the commercial routes that circulate through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait, routes attacked by the Houthi rebels, allied with Iran. The aim of the Shiite militias is to prevent goods from arriving at the Israeli port of Elat and destabilize a route through which 12% of the world’s maritime trade circulates, 30% of container traffic and a significant portion of hydrocarbon shipments ( oil and liquefied natural gas). 30% of jet fuel passes through this strait. A new rise in global inflation is at stake and the United States has asked European allies for help.
Along with the Strait of Hormuz (Persian Gulf), the Strait of Malacca (Malaysia, Singapore and Sumatra) and the Panama Canal, Bab al-Mandab is one of the key hubs of international maritime trade. Many of the Christmas gifts have arrived from the Far East to Europe via this route. Without Bab al-Mandab there would be no Father Christmas or Kings of the Orient. The United States has asked several European countries to help guarantee free maritime traffic at the Gate of Tears (poetic translation of the Arabic expression Bab al-Mandab). Spain appears on the Pentagon’s list, and this caused a surprising amount of discomfort in the Government of Pedro Sánchez yesterday. A country’s name never appears by chance or accident on a Pentagon list for an international military mission in a war zone.
In the statement released on Monday night (Spanish local time) by the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd J. Austin, Spain is with the United States (pilot force), the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the Seychelles. Egypt (owner of the Suez Canal), Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany, the main European economic engine, are not there.
The presence of Spain on the list is not a coincidence. There has been dialogue with the United States about this operation, according to government sources consulted by La Vanguardia. But yesterday was not a good day for this news in the narrative line of the Government. Foreign policy and domestic policy do not always fit well. Everything indicates that the announcement of the US Secretary of Defense took the Spanish Executive by surprise. The United States is in a hurry to assemble a naval coalition in the Red Sea in the face of the decision of the world’s main shipping companies to divert ships through the more expensive African route. Navigation costs can increase by 40%. Rates will go up. Inflation will rise. Washington is in a hurry, it wants European help and Spanish politics today is a complicated game of goldsmithing.
The head of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, was the first to warn yesterday morning that Spain’s participation in the international mission requires parliamentary authorization. The organic law of National Defense, promoted by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2005, establishes the obligation of a parliamentary authorization for the Government, using its constitutional powers, to decide on the sending of cash from the armed forces outside the borders “For missions abroad that, in accordance with international commitments, require a quick or immediate response to certain situations, the procedures for prior consultation and authorization will be carried out through emergency procedures that allow compliance with these commitments” , specifies article 17.3 of the aforementioned law.
Núñez Feijóo agreed with Spain’s participation in the operation promoted by the United States, but demanded that the Government ask Congress for permission. In the middle of the morning, the Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, pointed out that Spain will not participate “unilaterally” in the military operation in the Red Sea and that it will only participate with prior mandate from NATO or the European Union. The spokeswoman for the Government, Pilar Alegría, expressed herself along the same lines. When asked about this issue at the Christmas cup held yesterday in Moncloa with representatives of the media, Pedro Sánchez limited himself to commenting laconically that “this decision will be taken in Spain”.
Other government sources consulted by this newspaper point out the desirability of participating in an operation aimed at guaranteeing freedom of navigation and do not consider it contradictory to the demand for a cease-fire in Gaza, nor to the recent criticism of the Government of Israel for the indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians.
The Red Sea will test the parliamentary majority that supports Sánchez, whether it is necessary to ask permission from Congress or whether the Executive finds an umbrella in NATO or the European Union. It would now be very inconvenient for the Government to have to ask the Popular Party for parliamentary help.
The port of Valencia cannot be expanded without protecting the naval routes that cross Bab al-Mandab. Geography always knocks on the door.
