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Did two Royal Armed Forces planes enter Spanish airspace ? On August 9, The Political Room, specialized in foreign policy, confirmed the news in an article entitled: «Incidents with Morocco, a gray zone ?»
Three days after the publication of these «revelations», the media was forced to update the article signed by Javier Jordan, a professor of political science at the University of Granada who presents himself on his Twitter account as an expert in strategic and military studies.
He claims that two FAR F-5 planes made an incursion into Spanish airspace before they were intercepted by two Eurofighters, supported during the operation by a refueling plane, and forced to return to Moroccan territory.
A deleted article
«Faced with various fairly well-founded criticism that we have received via Twitter, and in particular via certain messages and emails, I made the decision to temporarily modify the article in order to clarify certain questions on which the comments have certainly cast doubts», explained Yago Rodriguez, director of The Political Room.
However, on Saturday August 15, The Political Room simply removed the article from its website without explaining the reasons behind the decision. The move is not the first of its kind. Ceutaldia also deleted an article on the same topic. The unexplained move on a sensitive subject in Spain made media raise questions.
We learn that the ball is now in the court of the Spanish Ministry of Defense, called on to give its version on the matter. A statement that will be followed closely by the opposition parties and could fuel new controversies on the right and the far right.
The government's room for maneuver will then be reduced, and will have to respond to concerns or announce investigations. But if they are true, the «revelations» on the penetration of the airspace of Spain by two FAR planes may raise questions regarding the effectiveness of the radar systems installed by the Spanish defense for the control of the area south of Gibraltar as well as those of NATO.
It is to the east of Madrid, on the base of Torrejon that the center of combined air operations of the Atlantic alliance is located. Its mission is «to plan, direct, coordinate, monitor, analyze and report on the operations of air police assets assigned to it in peacetime. The unit's area of responsibility includes NATO's European airspace south of the Alps», the Atlantic alliance wrote. The center is placed under the command of the lieutenant general of the Spanish air force, the same source adds.
