Naval Station Rota (Base Naval de Rota)

Naval Station Rota (Base Naval de Rota) is a Spanish Navy base on the northern shore of the Bay of Cádiz, at Rota in the Province of Cádiz, jointly used by the Spanish Navy and the United States Navy. The installation remains under the Spanish flag and is commanded by a Spanish vice admiral; the US component is technically a tenant of the Spanish base. External security is a Spanish Navy responsibility, while internal security is shared. It is the largest American military community in Spain, hosting US Navy and Marine Corps personnel with smaller US Army and Air Force contingents.

For the Spanish Navy, Rota houses the Fleet Headquarters and the Naval Action Force, together with Naval Action Group 2, the Aircraft Flotilla and the 41st Escort Squadron. The US presence is headquartered at Commander, US Naval Activities Spain (COMNAVACTSPAIN), under Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central. Destroyer Squadron 60 / Task Force 65 is based there, with forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers assigned under the European Phased Adaptive Approach for ballistic missile defence; the first four arrived from 2014–2015, and a 2023 agreement raised the authorised total to six. Other US tenants include Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Eight and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 79, flying the MH-60R Seahawk. Since 29 March 2019 the base has hosted the Operational Headquarters of the EU Naval Force, from which Operation Atalanta is commanded.

The base combines a seaport and an airfield, the latter with a single concrete and asphalt runway; it functions as a gateway for Air Mobility Command flights into Europe and supports EUCOM, CENTCOM and AFRICOM airlift. US forces provide command, control and logistics support to US and NATO units, supplying cargo, fuel and ammunition in the region. The port offers pier-side maintenance and back-load facilities, supports Amphibious Readiness Group turnovers, and is the only Mediterranean-area base able to conduct ARG post-deployment wash-downs. Rota also provides support to Morón Air Base, ARG support sites at Palma de Mallorca, NATO headquarters in Madrid and Maritime Prepositioning Squadron 1. The US Navy maintains the station infrastructure, including the airfield, active piers, several hundred facilities and family housing, within the wider Spanish base. The VLF transmitter at Guardamar, using the Torreta de Guardamar as antenna, is telecontrolled from Rota.

The base was built in the 19th century as the seat of the Spanish Fleet headquarters. US forces have used it since 1953 under a bilateral defence agreement. From January 1964 to 1979 it served as a forward refit site for Submarine Squadron 16 and its Polaris, later Poseidon, ballistic missile submarines. Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 2 and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 22 were based there until 2005 and 1993 respectively.