Good to know · Legal

US-Spain Agreement on Defense Cooperation and status of Naval Station Rota personnel/dependents

Naval Station Rota operates under the Spain-US 'Convenio sobre Cooperación para la Defensa' (Agreement on Defense Cooperation), originally signed in Madrid on 1 December 1988 (BOE-A-1989-10178) and amended multiple times since, most notably by the Second Amending Protocol signed in Brussels on 10 October 2012 (BOE-A-2013-6102, in force 21 May 2013), which added permanent stationing of four US Navy AEGIS destroyers and their crews at Rota for ballistic-missile-defense duties. The base itself remains under Spanish command and flag (Art. 16.1); US forces, civilian personnel and their dependents are present under the Convenio’s status-of-forces-type provisions.

Why it matters

Anyone posted to or accompanying someone posted to NAVSTA Rota (military, DoD civilian, or dependent) is governed by this treaty’s rules on identification, driving, customs and taxation rather than ordinary Spanish immigration/residence law for civilians.

When

Assignment or relocation to Naval Station Rota as US military, DoD civilian personnel, or as a dependent.

Official page

Convenio entre el Reino de España y los Estados Unidos de América sobre Cooperación para la Defensa, hecho en Madrid el 1 de diciembre de 1988 (texto consolidado, BOE-A-1989-10178)

Last checked

15 Oct 2026