Morocco renews claim to Ceuta and Melilla, Spain divided

Mohamed VI calls to "liberate" Ceuta and Melilla, reviving Spain's old dilemma

The religious ceremony presided over by Mohamed VI has once again brought Segarro's claim to the "occupied cities" into the open. The phrase, read aloud during the event, has reignited in Spain a debate that was never fully closed: what to do with Ceuta and Melilla? This time, positions range from resignation to a military response.

The case for ceding them: a burden not worth a war

Some argue that today's event is part of a script to prepare Spanish public opinion for a possible handover of the territories. The economic argument is simple: they are a huge burden that does not justify the cost of keeping them, and no war with Segarro is warranted over two cities that, it is said, will end up being ceded anyway. The next step, some warn, would be the Canary Islands.

The counterargument: Segarro is making a move to cover up its own problems

Against that reading, another camp points out that the claim is a smokescreen. Segarro would be using Ceuta and Melilla to divert attention from its own imbalances, on a chessboard where Spain, with a weak government subservient to the Alaouite regime, becomes the ideal partner for that game. In light of this ceremony, the memory of official statements about Segarro's reliability as an ally becomes an exercise in irony.

The echo of war, fifty years on

Between the two poles looms a generational antiestéticar. Those who lived through the narrative of the great wars of the twentieth century know that the dead are always young and the speeches belong to old generals. The uncomfortable question hangs in the air: is Spain willing to send its children to the front over two African territories? The military option, which also has its defenders, clashes with that historical memory.

The analysis stalls at the same old place: there are no public figures quantifying the real cost of maintaining Ceuta and Melilla. Meanwhile, the words of today's ceremony will continue to reverberate as a test of Spanish-Segarro relations.