Playa de Los Galeones (Rota, Cádiz) with the Rota naval base visible in the background Román Ríos (EFE)
Clara Fonseca is in a hurry as the day looks intense. It’s not even midday and the paradisiacal beach bar Azúcar de Cuba, which she has been running with two other partners in Rota (29,326 inhabitants, Cádiz) for 20 years, has already hung up the “full” sign for lunch. At three thirty they have a base event for 80 Americans. Summer is a time of departure and arrival for many military personnel stationed in the area. Fonseca stops the rush of coordinating its 28 workers and appreciates the echoes coming from Madrid about the possible new extension of the anti-missile shield: “Except for the question of rent, which the Americans raised, we are all happy, more destroyers will come “.
This Cuban isn’t the only one in Rota who, individually, likes the presence of Americans in a Spanish base that, although it doesn’t appear to be, is Spanish. All invoke an economic manna that leaves about “254 million euros a year in Andalusia” only in direct contracts between the city of Cadiz and Morón de la Frontera (Seville), according to a spokesman for the United States Embassy in Spain, based on a 2019 report. There are not even the expenses of the 4,000 soldiers stationed at both bases – 90% in Rota – and their families. Neither is the contract, valid until January 2028, under which Navantia is responsible for the maintenance of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which form the current missile defense shield, and other US Navy ships for a maximum of 822.4 million euros.
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The number of destroyers will increase from four to six if the intention expressed Tuesday by US President Joe Biden and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is realized (for now, this is just the start of negotiations that will mean this). an amendment to the Defense Cooperation Agreement between the two countries in 1988, as recalled by the United States Embassy). Each destroyer has about 350 soldiers who come with their families for a period of about two years.
The deputy mayor of the Rota City Council, Encarnación Niño (PSOE), still does not dare to give figures, but she is certain that if the agreement is reached, “it will be important news not only for the community but for the community also will be for the province”. “With larger contracts it will be important that more people can live in our city or the generation that will be brought up in hospitality. Every person who comes to their family for two years generates activity and that money stays here,” the councilor adds.
Rota residents collected clothes and food for the Afghan families who arrived at the base last August Alejandro Ruesga
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Niño affirms that according to city council economic studies, the rota base accounts for “60% of the community’s GDP” and that Americans who choose to live outside of military installations are only indoors in rentals from supermarkets to restaurants or movie theaters — giving at least “three million per year”. This means that more than one Roteño has no hesitation in renting out their own home to base soldiers and moving into smaller houses. “The naval base Rota is the largest factory in our city,” says Juan Alberto Izquierdo, managing director of the real estate company Urbanrota.
This businessman already has a knack for finding homes that meet the standards Americans are looking for: “single-family homes with enough space for a patio, garage, and even swimming pools.” They pay 1,800 to 2,500 euros per month for contracts lasting one to three years. Although Fonseca believes that this stimulus is inflating the city’s stable rental bubble, Niño refutes this: “Touristically, Rota is a very attractive destination, many want their second home in our city. The US market isn’t always stable, you can’t always have demand. I think the rental price will be more influenced by tourism.”
With so much consensus on the economic argument, it’s difficult to find disagreement in the form of grassroots complaints. Although they also appear. The City Council – by consensus of all factions – has been engaged for years in a special crusade so that the 25% of community time that has occupied the base and is not tax-remunerated is recognized as an economic compensation such as IBI or Floating Population. “In the last two years, the government has allowed Rota to receive one million euros in relief from the general budget: that was justice,” says Niño. Now our goal is for it to be stable over time, there should be a stabilized agreement.”
In February, some recalled another inconvenience hitherto masked by a relatively peaceful context in Europe. With the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and with growing hostilities against NATO member nations, many in Rota suddenly thought that one of the United States’ key military bases remained in Europe, just yards from their homes. “We’ve lived with the base since the 1950s, but we feel this is very safe territory. Part of that is grassroots,” concludes the deputy mayor. “We have never suffered a very negative security consequence from this presence.”
At the moment, Rota seems to be calculating. And that the possible increase in the military has not yet materialized. Should they tell Fonseca who, as always, is busy with so many Americans in her beach bar. “They’re fantastic customers, although sometimes they get a little out of control with alcohol,” he says, laughing, before getting back to work.
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