The president of the Gran Canaria Island Council warns that recent events in Ceuta demonstrate a strategy of pressure by Morocco that directly affects the economic, territorial and geostrategic interests of the Canary Islands.
Morales demands a firm response from the State and the European Union to Morocco's advance in areas such as ports, waters near the Archipelago, the airspace of Western Sahara and the control of strategic infrastructure.
“Today it’s Ceuta; tomorrow, if we don’t act, it could be the Canary Islands.” The president of the Gran Canaria Island Council, Antonio Morales, has warned of the consequences that Morocco’s growing political, economic, and military power could have for the archipelago and is demanding a firm response from Spanish and European institutions to protect the Canary Islands’ strategic interests.
Morales places this reflection in the wake of the serious events that took place in Ceuta at the end of July and the renewed tension at the border in recent days. For the island's president, what happened should not be analyzed solely from a migration perspective, but rather within a broader geopolitical context with direct implications for the Canary Islands.
“I’m not just talking about migratory pressure. I’m talking about something I’ve been warning about for months, and that’s the emboldening of Morocco and its direct consequences for the sovereignty and strategic interests of our archipelago,” he argues.
The president of the Cabildo considers Morocco's response to the various incidents in Ceuta particularly significant. In contrast to the lack of control denounced during the crisis at the end of July, Morales points out that, in response to the call circulated on social media to attempt to re-enter the city on August 15, Morocco demonstrated a tight grip on its maritime and land borders.
In his view, this behavior demonstrates the neighboring country's ability to use migratory pressure as a political tool. "It opens or closes whenever it wants and it suits it," says Morales, who also recalls the recent statements by the Moroccan Minister of Justice asserting Morocco's sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla.
A warning that directly affects the Canary Islands
Morales argues that the events in Ceuta should serve to draw attention to other movements that directly affect the Archipelago and that, in his opinion, respond to the same strategy of faits accomplis.
One of them is the development of the port of Dakhla, in Western Sahara, an infrastructure of around 1.300 billion euros designed to become a major Atlantic logistics hub and compete with other port enclaves in the region.
The island's president had already warned about this issue in December 2025, when he questioned initiatives aimed at promoting Canarian business investment in Dakhla. Morales believes that the Canary Islands cannot contribute to the development of infrastructure that will end up competing directly with its own ports.
“We cannot look the other way when those from Canarian institutions or employers' associations encourage investment in sectors that compete with our economy,” he argues.
Morales also draws a parallel with the growth of Tangier Med and its consequences for the Port of Algeciras. In his view, this precedent demonstrates that the risk to the Port of La Luz and Las Palmas “is not hypothetical” and that the Canary Islands must defend their strategic position in the Atlantic now.
Water, strategic resources and airspace
In addition to the port competition, there is also the dispute over the delimitation of the waters near the Canary Islands. Morales points out that Morocco has been advocating since 2019 for a maritime delimitation based on the so-called "principle of equity," with claims affecting waters near Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, and part of Gran Canaria.
In this scenario, Monte Tropic takes on special importance, an underwater volcano located southwest of El Hierro that houses significant reserves of tellurium, as well as cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements, resources considered strategic for the energy and technological transition.
The president also drew attention to the airspace over Western Sahara, managed from Gran Canaria through the Canarias FIR/UIR. He explained that Morocco has been de facto increasing its control over parts of this airspace, particularly through exclusion zones associated with military exercises.
“Ceding that control would be equivalent to giving up, in the skies, the same strategic position that we defend at sea and in our ports,” Morales warns.
Morocco's growing military and economic power
The president of the Cabildo frames these actions within an international context in which Morocco has significantly strengthened its position thanks to the support of the United States and its strategic and military alliance with Israel.
Morales highlights the increase in Moroccan military spending, the incorporation of new defense technologies and the development of facilities such as the African Multi-Domain Training and Experimentation Center (AMTEC) in Tan-Tan, about 200 kilometers from Lanzarote.
“I don’t think anyone believes that all these interconnected events are a coincidence. Clear and forceful messages are being sent to Spain and the European Union about the geostrategic changes in the region and the power acquired by Morocco,” he states.
In addition, he mentions business operations that he considers necessary to analyze from the perspective of security and the strategic interests of the Canary Islands, such as the announced acquisition of 45% of Boluda, a port and shipping operator with a presence in the Islands, by the Moroccan semi-public company Marsa Maroc.
“These are not isolated fronts”
For Antonio Morales, migratory pressure, port expansion, maritime claims, the progressive control of Western Sahara's airspace, and Moroccan rearmament cannot be analyzed as independent events.
“These are not isolated incidents; they are part of the same underlying strategy: that of a Morocco that has learned that faits accomplis, whether on the border, at sea, underground, in the air, or on the Atlantic chessboard, rarely find a firm response from its European neighbors,” he points out.
The president of the Cabildo believes that the latest events in Ceuta demonstrate once again the need for Spain and Europe to define a clear position towards Morocco and, especially, towards those issues that may compromise the strategic interests of the Archipelago.
“Defending the Port of La Luz and Las Palmas, our strategic position in the Atlantic, and demanding consistency between principles and decisions from the State and the European Union is not an ideological issue: it is an institutional obligation for those of us who must protect the economic and political future of the Canary Islands,” Morales concludes.
