Morocco has rejected Spanish demands that it withdraw its troops from a tiny disputed Mediterranean island.
Yesterday, around a dozen Moroccan troops landed the deserted islet of Perejil, close to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Morocco's north coast. It coincided with festivities for today's public wedding in Rabat of King Mohammed.
Spanish Foreign Minister Ms Ana Palacio, calling the situation "very serious", said the Moroccan action breached a 1991 treaty.
"The next move I hope is a return to the situation we had before," Palacio, who took office only on Wednesday, said.
A pro-government Spanish newspaper called King Mohammed a "dictator" and said the island occupation was a "hostile act".
Morocco said it set up an "observation post" on the islet, which it calls Leila, to fight "terrorism" as well as illegal migration into Europe across the 20-km strait dividing Spain from Africa and the Mediterranean from the Atlantic.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry has said the Moroccans put up two tents and raised two Moroccan flags on the island.
The European Union condemned the occupation, but refused to get directly involved in what it saw as a bilateral dispute.
"This is clearly a regrettable incident. It constitutes a violation of Spanish territory," European Commission spokesman Mr Gunar Wiegand said.
The dispute dates back to the end of the colonial era in the 1950s, when France and Spain gave up territory they controlled under an arrangement known as the protectorate.
Under a 1956 agreement, Spain kept the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which it had held for centuries. But Morocco strongly disputes Spanish control over several rocky islands.