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Deepening the Defense Agreement between the U.S. and Spain

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Roosevelt arrives at Naval Station Rota as part of its homeport shift April 19, 2020. Named in honor of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, Roosevelt will be the first Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer stationed in Rota, providing the ability to deploy with two embarked Lamps MK III MH-60B Sea Hawk helicopters.

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Photo by: Petty Officer 3rd Class Katie Cox 

The U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Julissa Reynoso, and the Spanish Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, signed an agreement at the Spanish Ministry of Defense in Madrid, Spain, to deepen cooperation within the framework of the Defense Cooperation Agreement between U.S. and Spain on May 8, 2023. As President Biden had promised during his June 2022 bilateral meeting with Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, this agreement increases the deployment with two U.S. Navy destroyers permanently based at the Rota Naval Base.

The destroyers will join four others already stationed on Rota - the only U.S. destroyers homeported in Europe. Operating from Spain, these vessels are uniquely positioned to make contributions to collective defense, with daily operations in various missions including ballistic missile defense and anti-aircraft warfare.

"Our Defense Cooperation Agreement is more than a security document, it is the reflection of a relationship based on shared beliefs, that democracy is the best system of government, that anyone in any part of the world can enjoy the guarantees and promises that human rights grant, and that the international order based on law is the best guarantee of peace and security," said Reynoso.

*Editor's Note: this article was translated from Spanish, and the original Department of State news release can be found here.