Spain's army: torn between NATO and Ceuta, what is it for?

Spain's armed forces, caught between NATO and the Ceuta crisis: what are they for?

At the height of the Ceuta crisis, with the security forces overwhelmed, the question many people were asking was: where is the army? The answer, according to popular perception, was that it called the 112 emergency service for help. Meanwhile, the Armed Forces are engaged in 16 international missions. The paradox is obvious.

Civil servants with a parade

The recurring criticism is that the army has become a corps of civil servants who get paid at the end of the month and march in official ceremonies. The irony about "putting your hand up" and "claiming your allowance" reflects a perception of national defence as just another job, not a vocation. The reference to 23-F, when the army attempted a coup d'état, weighs on the collective imagination: some believe the Armed Forces have been tamed ever since.

NATO as the reference point

Another view holds that the Spanish army no longer has any autonomy: it is subordinated to NATO and to US interests. Its presence in international missions is seen as a gesture of alignment, not of national defence. The question that arises is why it is not deployed in Ceuta when there is migration tension, yet does take part in operations abroad.

The debate over its role

Some argue that the army cannot do politics, and that its role is exclusively external defence. But the reality in Ceuta, where the Guardia Civil (military police force) and the Policía Nacional (national police) face off against migrants, leaves the army in a secondary role. The sense of uselessness deepens when it is recalled that the army called the 112 emergency service for help instead of intervening.

The striking figure: the Spanish army takes part in 16 international missions, but on its own territory, in Ceuta, it has no presence. The question of what it is for remains open.