9AM: The air battle over the strait is over after the remaining Moroccan planes flee the combat zone. The Spanish Harriers do not pursue them fearing Moroccan AA batteries.
The first news of the combats arrive to the Spanish troops in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan. Spanish NATO soldiers deployed in Aviano (Italy) and the Indian ocean will soon also learn about the fighting.
King Juan Carlos contacts the Permanent Commission of the Congress and outlines his plan for a new emergency government, using his royal prerogative for the first time in 25 years.
In Cairo, the Arab League starts an emergency meeting.
In Brussels, NATO does the same. In Morón, San Javier, Armilla and Alcantarilla, fighters prepare for an attack on AA defenses and radar all over Northern Morocco.
First images of the aerial combats over the straits and civilian victims of the first strike make it to the Moroccan and arab media. Immediately, outrage spreads throughout the arab world.
930 AM: A royal message to the nation is announced for broadcast at 10 AM in every spanish radio and TV. Newspapers are already busy working on special editions.
Submarines from the Mediterranean command take positions near the Al-hoceima naval base.
In the Principe de Asturias, the planes arrive safe and prepare for a 2nd raid on the Tangiers naval base. Admiral Barberá assumes that he has won the Battle of the Straits mauling a good deal of the Moroccan airforce; but at a high cost with the loss of the Numancia
The frigate, badly wounded, withdraws towards Ceuta. In a few hours, video images of the burning frigate entering the port will are being endlessly repeated by world news broadcasts.
In Ceuta, Melilla, and the rest of the plazas, the Spanish legionaires and soldiers prepare for the now expectable Moroccan strike. Ceuta is easy to defend since the city center is on an island easy to supply by sea, but Melilla is on the bottom of a valley surrounded by Moroccan territory by 3 sides. The main issue, though, is that there are around 70000 civilians in each city and now it is too late to start an evacuation, so both Spanish and Moroccan commanders must be careful or the situation will become a massacre. Panic is already widespread among the population. Anyway, plans are activated to start an evacuation of as many civilians as possible from Ceuta.
In Rabat, commanders congratulate themselves at the news of the damaging or sinking of the Numancia; but the news about the air battle are bleaker. Less than one third of the planes sent to attack the Spanish fleet has come back. The Moroccans know that what comes next is a massive Spanish attack on radar and AA positions, followed by a raid on the Moroccan airbases, hoping to destroy as much of the Force Aérienne Royale as they can. It is decided that a token force with the oldest planes will be left at the 3 bases of Kenitra, Meknes and Rabat, while the core of the airforce is withdrawn to other airbases or civilian airports far from the strait. This means giving the Spaniards air superiority over the strait, but at least the Moroccan airforce will be more or less intact to be able to conduct isolated strikes. While the Moroccans can now still reach the strait, the Spaniards, operating from bases in Spain, cannot reach the most faraway bases in central and southern morocco.
10 AM: King Juan Carlos addresses the nation. In a brief communication, he informs that Spain has been forced to attack Moroccan forces to prevent an invasion of Ceuta and Melilla, and that for all purposes a state of war exists between the kingdoms of Spain and Morocco. He also announces that the Aznar government has resigned due to the failure to take Perejil bloodlessly and that a new emergency government is being set up.
In Southern Spain, people stares at the skies as dozens of warplanes flying at low height head south…
Spanish officials have already started contacts with port authorities to start renting or confiscating civilian ships, in case an invasion becomes inevitable.
A few minutes after King Juan Carlos, King Muhammad VI addressed the Moroccans. The Spanish agressors had tried to retake Laila [Moroccan name of perejil] and attacked the Moroccan mainland when the defenders had tried to repel them.
In Washington, the US government finds itself with a serious headache. On the first hand, Spain is a valuable ally which has contributed troops to Afghanistan and ships to Enduring Freedom. On the other hand, Morocco is one of the few reasonably secular Islamic states which supports the US, and it is more or less clear that it was actually the Spaniards who attacked first, albeit they claim it was just a preemptive strike. In two hours of conversations with the ambassadors, both sides refuse any agreement to a ceasefire and the American position becomes more and more uncomfortable as hours pass.
