Spain has kicked off one of its biggest military deployments of the year, with the start of the Flotex-26 in the Strait of Gibraltar.
Over nearly two weeks, a large part of the Spanish Navy will operate across the Gulf of Cadiz and the Alboran Sea in high-intensity drills designed to simulate real conflict scenarios.
It comes after the US issued what appeared to be a thinly veiled warning on May 4, when US ambassador to the UN Michael Waltz suggested there could be a war in the Strait of Gibraltar ‘in the future’.
Warships, submarines and amphibious forces deployed
The exercise, planned before Waltz’s remarks, is led by the Spanish Navy’s high-readiness maritime headquarters and brings together some of its most powerful assets.
Among them are the aircraft carrier-style flagship Juan Carlos I, amphibious ships Castilla and Galicia, and frigates including Victoria, Reina Sofia and Almirante Juan de Borbon.
They are joined by the submarine Galerna, supply ship Patiño, minehunters Turia and Duero, and the patrol vessel Relampago – along with Marine Infantry units carrying out beach landing drills on the Cadiz coast.
High-intensity scenarios and modern threats
The aim is to test how quickly Spain can assemble and deploy a fully operational naval force capable of responding to real-world threats.
Operations include amphibious assaults, maritime control missions and electronic warfare simulations, including GPS signal disruption, a growing concern in modern conflicts.
Senior commanders observed live landing exercises during the drills, including complex coordinated operations between ships, aircraft and ground units.
Why the Strait matters
The choice of location is no coincidence.
The Strait of Gibraltar is one of the busiest and most strategically sensitive shipping routes in the world, linking the Atlantic and Mediterranean and sitting at the crossroads of Europe and Africa.
Spain says the drills are key to maintaining readiness and strengthening deterrence in a region where geopolitical tensions are rising and maritime routes are increasingly critical.
A show of force
With Flotex-26, the Navy aims to demonstrate it can deploy a ‘credible and effective’ force at short notice – capable of handling everything from conventional military threats to technological disruption and complex maritime crises.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
