The mild Mediterranean air cradles the goldfinches that flutter around the veranda of the Oasis restaurant, occasionally landing on its empty tables. From its windows, one can see the bay of Limassol in Cyprus: a couple of daring Russians are swimming in the still-chilly waters, while the Greek Navy frigates sent to defend the island take up positions on the horizon. “It’s been several days since almost anyone has come,” laments Andriana, the owner, where only a couple of British retirees are having an early lunch and an elderly Greek woman is writing in her diary.

Ever since an Iranian-made drone crashed into the British airbase at Akrotiri on Sunday night last week, air raid sirens have sounded almost daily, warning of suspicious objects heading towards Cyprus. British and Greek fighter jets have scrambled on several occasions to intercept them, although the Cypriot government maintains that most of these incidents have been “false alarms.”

Although the Royal Air Force (RAF) military installations are about six kilometers away (3.7 miles), the territory under British sovereignty begins right where the Oasis restaurant is located and extends over 123 square kilometers (47 square miles). When London granted independence to its former colony in 1960, it reserved this territory and Dhekelia, in the east of the island, to maintain a foothold in the Middle East. In fact, both bases have been used in the invasion of Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, the operation against Gaddafi in Libya, and the protection of Israel during the 2024 Iranian attack. And the immense radar system installed in Dhekelia, which can detect signals as far away as Afghanistan or Russia, shares information with the United States.

“For years, Cyprus was immune to the conflicts in the Middle East, and everyone assumed that British bases would defend us,” explains Fiona Mullen, an analyst and director at the Nicosia-based consultancy Sapienta. Now, however, it seems to be waking up to the reality of geography: the EU’s easternmost state is just 200 km (124 miles) from Lebanon and 260 (161) from Israel. “Of course, the situation isn’t as dangerous as in Dubai or Qatar, but the fact that a drone was able to evade British defenses has increased uncertainty,” she adds.

At first glance, life seems to go on as usual in the city of Limassol, near Akrotiri. “Size matters,” emphasizes a sign in English on the avenue leading to the marina. It’s an advertisement for a real estate agency offering “the largest apartments in downtown Limassol.” Numerous ads in English or Russian throughout the city and along the island’s roads entice people to invest in property. In the last 20 years, the face of Cyprus’ second-largest city has completely changed: its population has doubled to 200,000, and skyscrapers in the style of the Gulf countries have risen above its traditional low-rise houses. The marina is now filled with luxury villas, some boasting an Aston Martin, Porsche or Ferrari parked out front, and a yacht or sailboat moored in the canal bordering the garden. “First, many Russians arrived, then Israelis, and now more are coming from northern and central Europe,” explains a saleswoman at a real estate agency in the port.

Perhaps due to their experience of being invaded throughout history, from the Greco-Persian Wars up until the 20th century, not forgetting the Crusades, Cypriots have developed a particular instinct for reinventing themselves after each blow. After the 1974 war, which left the island divided between a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south deprived of the best arable land, the island became the Middle East’s bank for those fleeing conflict. Later, it became a haven for Russian oligarchs uncertain about their country’s situation. And after the 2013 banking crisis, the government at the time pulled a controversial program out of thin air, granting citizenship in exchange for the purchase of real estate (a program they later had to reverse).

The cranes are still working because there’s demand. In the imposing Trilogy towers, only a few apartments remain available, priced at over €5 million ($5.8 million), and the few remaining apartments and villas in the marina start at €3.9 million ($4.5 million). “But for €550,000 ($635,000), we can offer you a detached house in this development with a golf course on the outskirts of Limassol, with the assurance that, when its development is completed in three or four years, it will be worth double,” assures the real estate agent. That is, unless everything falls apart: the development in question is located just over five kilometers (three miles) as the crow flies from the RAF facilities hit by the Iranian drone.

“The attack is changing the perception of Cyprus as a safe haven for doing business. The island thought that the only problems could come from Turkey,” says Mullen. The Cypriot economy depends on tourism (with 4.5 million visitors in 2025), services related to the financial and technology sectors, and construction — all sectors highly susceptible to instability. Hüseyin, a Turkish Cypriot taxi driver, explains that even in the north, travel cancellations have already been felt, and he longs for the crisis to end soon: “Our elders lived through the [1974] war and know how terrible it is.”

“Nobody knows what’s going to happen,” says Hula, in a run-down café in Asómatos, one of the villages near the British base. “Will a bomb fall, or not? Who knows?” Then he turns back to tending to the pot from which an aroma of beans wafts. In the neighboring village of Trachoni, young Kostas and Elisavet have grown up seeing British soldiers come to shop or eat in their taverns. It’s always been this way, and they’ve never questioned the UK’s right to use the bases—a murmur that has resurfaced after the Iranian attack, with the Cypriot government calling for a review of the treaty. But they acknowledge that people “have started to get scared,” seeing themselves as potential targets for Iranian drones or missiles.

Most of the residents of these two villages have not left their homes, unlike what happened on Monday in Akrotiri, which is adjacent to the military base of the same name and which the Nicosia government ordered to be evacuated. Nevertheless, many of the village’s businesses reopened last Wednesday. “I think the danger has been exaggerated. It’s not that bad,” says George, owner of a fish and chip shop who relies on the base’s personnel. Young people from the village and British soldiers began frequenting the cafes on Wednesday, although a certain tension was palpable among the military personnel. The following day, this journalist received a call from the local police station asking what he was doing loitering in the area.

Criticism of London

On Thursday, in an interview with the Greek television channel Skai, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides again criticized the U.K. for its handling of the crisis and accused it of targeting Cyprus. Keir Starmer’s statements have certainly been somewhat ambiguous: first offering the U.K.’s bases to the U.S., then denying that Cypriot bases would be used, and later acknowledging that fighter jets from Akrotiri had participated in shooting down an Iranian drone over Jordanian airspace (which could have been targeting Israel). London has also updated its travel advisories for its citizens on the island, warning of potential “terrorist attacks,” and the U.S. — whose staff were temporarily evacuated from the embassy during Wednesday’s alert — has also advised against travel to the island.

The Cypriot government believes the situation is being exaggerated and is trying to maintain a balance between allaying fears and taking safety measures, such as asking the population to prepare backpacks that they can take to a shelter in case of emergency (although those who have checked the shelters marked on a government mobile application complain that some do not exist and others are private garages) and creating a telephone alert system, the first test of which did not work entirely well.

An editorial in this week’s Cyprus Mail criticized the Cypriot government for pointing to the U.K. as the source of its problems, when it is the Cypriot government that, in recent years, has strengthened its own relations with Israel and the U.S., offering them the use of its own bases. “I think this strengthens Cyprus’ defenses, but at the same time it creates insecurity at a time when it is not clear that the U.S. or Israel can be trusted,” argues Mullen.

Cyprus is a member of the European Union, but not of NATO (in fact, until 2004 it was a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, which includes Iran). However, the northern third of the island is controlled by Turkey, a NATO member but not an EU member; and another 3% of the island is part of the U.K., which is a NATO member but no longer an EU member, complicating the island’s defense: Turkey vetoes any possibility of Cyprus joining NATO; Cyprus and its ally Greece oppose any EU defense rapprochement with Turkey.

Although Nicosia has deployed an anti-aircraft system purchased from Israel in recent months, its forces are insufficient for self-defense. Cyprus’s air force (3 aircraft, 4 drones, and 15 helicopters) is among the smallest in the world, and its navy — composed mostly of patrol boats — is the weakest in the region. Hence the importance the Cypriots attach to the naval and air assistance pledged by countries such as Greece, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, which has sent the frigate Cristóbal Colón, at this time of uncertainty.

Almost adjacent to the RAF base is a Greek Orthodox monastery: St. Nicholas of the Cats. Surrounded by marshland and silence, except when fighter jets roar overhead, startling the birds from the reedbeds. The felines — supposedly descendants of those that, according to legend, Helena brought from Constantinople in the 4th century to combat a plague of snakes — populate the parking lot, the gardens, the table selling cards with pictures of saints, their gaze indifferent, unfazed by the arrival of a vehicle. In the monastery kitchen there are three elderly nuns, rigorously covered in black from head to toe, chatting and oblivious to the affairs of this world. No one has come to evacuate them, but they are not afraid. When asked, one shrugs and replies, “God’s will be done.”

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The Cypriot town of Akrotiri was a ghost town on Tuesday. Tables were set in a tavern near the entrance to the Royal Air Force (RAF) base attacked by Iranian drones on Monday, apparently ready for diners; but the establishment remained firmly closed, giving it an eerie appearance. The same was true of the pizzeria, the Indian restaurant, and the various pubs that cater to the tastes of British soldiers.

“Most people have left,” explained the owner of a café where the only clients left were a couple of journalists, and which reopened Tuesday afternoon after Monday’s hasty evacuation. Andreas, the local butcher, was practically the only one resisting the instructions to leave the town. “Am I going to spend two days in a hotel? No way! What’s meant to be will be,” he said, speaking inside a shop with no customers.

Greece, France, and the United Kingdom have mobilized or are planning to send reinforcements to Cyprus, an EU member state, after Iran attacked one of the two military bases London maintains in the Mediterranean country with drones. These bases have been key to previous British military operations in the Middle East. Greece has also sent five aircraft and made it clear that it “will contribute with any means at its disposal to the defense of the Republic of Cyprus.”

Early Monday morning, an Iranian-made Shahed drone—allegedly shot from Lebanon, according to the Cypriot government—crashed on one of the runways at the Akrotiri airbase in the south of the island, causing no injuries and only minor damage. Two other drones traveling in the same direction were intercepted throughout Monday, and another was spotted over the civilian airport in Paphos, forcing its closure for a few hours.

Several villages near the airport were temporarily evacuated, and residents of Akrotiri, adjacent to the British air base, were instructed to leave and were relocated to nearby hotels. The evacuation order, the Home Office said, remains in effect until Friday, when the situation will be reassessed.

The Akrotiri base is not just a military installation, but also a territory. Together with the Dhekelia base in eastern Cyprus, it occupies nearly 3% of the island’s surface area, and both are considered by London to be “British Overseas Territories,” although the Republic of Cyprus disputes this sovereignty. “Look: at the end of the street is the United Kingdom, and up the street too; this is Cyprus. Half the town is British and the other half Cypriot, although here we are all Cypriots, that is, Europeans,” explains Tasos, a farmer, regarding the vagaries of territorial demarcation—a legacy of decolonization—in his village of Trachoni. His two grandchildren run and play at his feet. “Although this village hasn’t been evacuated, classes have been suspended. People are afraid, it’s true.” Constantina, who runs a café, confirms this: “Some neighbors have indeed left. There is some fear, but this is something between the Americans and the Iranians; it shouldn’t affect us.”

The Cypriot Interior Ministry published a guide on Tuesday recommending the preparation of an emergency kit with essential supplies “that can be easily transported to a shelter” if needed. The Ministry of Education has also sent letters to schools outlining protocols for responding to “incidents,” a move criticized by several local media outlets as creating panic among the population.

Although Tuesday went by without further incident, there was a certain amount of tension. Early in the morning, air raid sirens sounded again in Akrotiri, although it was later announced that it was a false alarm. Throughout the day there was normal vehicle traffic, and no fighter jets took to the skies. However, an A-400 Atlas military transport aircraft did land at the RAF base and took off again some time later. That evening, the roar of F-35 and Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets was heard as they took off from Akrotiri, reportedly to shoot down Iranian drones launched against Jordan, according to the Cypriot press.

Keir Starmer’s government also announced the deployment of the destroyer HMS Dragon along with two helicopters equipped with missiles designed to shoot down drones to protect Akrotiri, although the prime minister stressed that the base is not being used by the United States in its attacks on Iran.

The Iranian Embassy in Nicosia has neither confirmed nor denied its country’s role in the drone attack, but on Tuesday it issued a statement emphasizing that its relations with Cyprus “have historically been cordial and constructive” and that currently “there have been no changes” in that status. It also asserted that Iran “does not undertake offensive actions,” but rather that its actions are limited “to the inherent right of self-defense.”

Those who have already mobilized in support of Cyprus include Greece and France, which has announced the deployment of its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle. Athens sent four fighter jets and a transport plane to the Andreas Papandreou air base, near Paphos airport, on Monday. Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias flew there on Tuesday to review the troops alongside his Cypriot counterpart, Vasilis Palmas. “Cyprus is not a distant country,” the Greek minister emphasized. “These are difficult times for our region. But Greece wants to make it categorically clear that it intends to provide Cyprus with any assistance it can, to the best of its ability.”

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides explained that he has also requested assistance from the governments of France, Germany and Italy, and so far, Paris has pledged to send a frigate and anti-missile and anti-drone systems. Two Greek frigates are scheduled to arrive on the Cypriot coast on Wednesday, equipped with the Centauro drone neutralization system, which has already been tested in the Red Sea against drones used by the Houthis allied with Tehran. It has not gone unnoticed that one of the Greek frigates is named after Cimon, the 5th-century BC Athenian general whom Pericles sent to Cyprus to fight against the Persians.

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Spain is refusing to support the U.S. and Israeli military operation against Iran and has distanced itself from the position adopted by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, which have shown themselves willing to undertake “proportionate defensive action” in response to Tehran’s attacks on the Persian Gulf countries and Cyprus. “Each country makes its own foreign policy decisions. Spain has a very clear position: Europe’s voice must be one of balance and moderation at this time, working towards de-escalation and a return to the negotiating table,” Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Monday. “A logic of violence, as we are seeing, only leads to a spiral of violence, and unilateral military actions outside the United Nations Charter, outside any collective action, have no clear objective. Europe must defend international law, de-escalation, and negotiation,” he insisted.

The minister condemned Iran’s “absolutely unjustified” attacks against the Persian Gulf countries and, in particular, against Cyprus, an EU partner that currently holds the rotating presidency of the Union, to which he conveyed “full support and solidarity.” However, Spain has opted for a diplomatic response to these attacks: it has summoned the Iranian ambassador in Madrid, Reza Zabib, and conveyed its “rejection and condemnation” of Iranian actions, demanding their immediate cessation and reminding Tehran that they also endanger the 30,000 Spaniards in the region.

Spain’s refusal to provide military support for the attack on Iran has led the Pentagon to withdraw a dozen KC-135 tanker aircraft deployed at the bases in Morón de la Frontera (Seville) and, to a lesser extent, Rota (Cádiz) to supply fuel in the air to its fighter-bombers, as confirmed by Minister of Defense Margarita Robles. After “categorically” assuring that Spain has not provided any assistance to the attack on Iran, Robles explained that the cooperation agreement with Washington, which serves as an umbrella for the presence of U.S. troops in Spain, “must operate within the framework of international law” and that what is currently taking place are unilateral actions, without the backing of a multilateral organization such as the UN, NATO, or the EU. “The bases will not provide support unless it is necessary from a humanitarian point of view. Until there is a resolution, the treaty does not apply,” she insisted.

Speaking to the press at the Spanish Air Force helicopter school at the Armilla base (Granada), Robles took it for granted that Washington was aware of Spain’s decision, which is why it moved its refueling aircraft from Morón to other bases in Germany and France over the weekend, as reported by El Independiente. “What is clear is that the tanker aircraft have not carried out and were not going to carry out any support operations [for the attack on Iran]. That is probably why the U.S. army has taken the sovereign decision to move them to other bases,” she concluded.

This position is consistent with the fact that, as reported by EL PAÍS, two destroyers stationed at the Rota naval base in Cádiz, the USS Roosevelt and the USS Bulkeley, are deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean to reinforce Israel’s protection against ballistic missile attacks launched in retaliation by Iran. Unlike aircraft, ships can spend months away from their main base and receive orders while at sea, so Spain has no possibility of vetoing them.

Regarding the situation of the over 1,000 Spanish military personnel deployed in the region (almost 700 in Lebanon, 275 in Iraq, and 150 in Turkey), the minister explained that all are well and have adopted measures of “prevention, prudence, and safety.” The former, who are part of the United Nations mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), spent the night in bunkers, she added, in view of the resumption of hostilities between Israel and the Shia militia Hezbollah, with an exchange of rockets and shells. Albares also expressed concern about the spread of the war to Lebanon, which in his view shows that “the unilateral action taken on Saturday has many ramifications and consequences that are difficult to predict.”

The head of Spanish diplomacy stressed that the safety of the 30,000 Spaniards in the region is his priority and promised support for those who have been stranded by the suspension of flights at airports with a high volume of international traffic, such as those in the United Arab Emirates, although he warned that the airspace of most of these countries is closed, so repatriation by air is not an option at this time. In any case, he stressed that the crisis unit activated by the Foreign Ministry will be operational 24 hours a day “for as long as this situation lasts, which looks set to be quite a while.”

The Spanish government’s refusal to allow the use of its bases comes after France, the United Kingdom, and Germany opened the door to launching “proportionate defensive action” against Iran. The leaders of the three European countries warned the Iranian regime to cease its “indiscriminate attacks” in the region and agreed to address this threat in coordination with the United States. “We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source,” said France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Keir Starmer, and Germany’s Friedrich Merz in a joint statement.

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