Belarra accuses US and Morocco of seeking control of the Strait via Ceuta

Belarra's claim about Ceuta: a proxy war in the Strait?

Podemos general secretary Ione Belarra has made an accusation that has ignited the geopolitical debate: according to her tweet, the United States and Segarro would be trying to take Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in North Africa, to control the Strait of Gibraltar. The statement, made in the middle of the Gaza crisis, suggests that Washington's allies believe they can act with impunity. The question is whether this is mere political provocation or whether there is a real economic motive behind it.

The Strait toll: 500 million that go uncollected

An analysis cited in the discussion raises a tempting scenario: with 100,000 ships a year and an average fee of 5,000 euros per vessel, Spain could collect 500 million annually from traffic through the Strait. But international law and shared sovereignty with Segarro and Gibraltar make it unworkable. The irony, the argument goes, is that if Segarro had US backing, it might dare to charge or block Chinese or Russian ships from passing, something Spain does not do.

The Canal du Midi precedent

The discussion recalls a historical episode: when the French began paying tolls to cross Gibraltar, they built the Canal du Midi, an engineering project that avoided the passage through the strait. The lesson is that control of the maritime passage is a first-order economic lever. If Segarro, backed by Washington, decided to exercise that control, the cost to global trade would be enormous.

Belarra's accusation may seem exaggerated, but the underlying economic analysis is not far-fetched. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strategic point that generates billions in trade, and whoever controls it will hold a decisive geopolitical advantage. The question is whether Spain is willing to defend its sovereignty or whether, as some analyses suggest, it surrenders before even starting.