Ceuta and Melilla, fight for the possession of Spanish territory in Africa

Ceuta and Melilla are two small cities located on the North African coast, delimited by Moroccan territory and the Mediterranean Sea, belonging to Spain since the 15th and 17th centuries respectively. As of 1986 they form the only territory of the European Union in continental Africa. For its part, Morocco, since its independence in 1956, has claimed sovereignty over these enclaves, however, the United Nations considers them Spanish provinces since they have been inhabited by nationals of the European country since long before the Moroccan Kingdom was founded ( Cueto, 2022, par.1-3).

The problematic of this geographical narrative has produced contradictions and cultural discontinuities. The historical context of Ceuta and Melilla dates back to a period several centuries old, so it is not possible to study it from a single angle, they represent melting pots of ethnic groups that absorb millennia of history and migrations. In addition, their position as enclaves in African territory have led these provinces to be characterized by containing various conflict situations between Spain and Morocco:

The polymorphic identity of the enclaves has in fact been built through different colonial sedimentations, religious differences and unstoppable migratory currents. We are talking about true "middle lands" between Africa and Europe, Islam and Christianity, the North and the South of the world. (Sagnella, 2020, p.31).

For the Spanish government, the two Autonomous Cities appear as a priority region due to their geographical proximity, their historical and human ties, as well as a strategic place from which to collaborate with the countries of the area and respond to important challenges: from the strengthening of democracy and the State of Law, the regulation and control of emigration, to the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.

On the other hand, Morocco has tried on several occasions to annex both cities, denying their belonging to the Spanish government. There is also a precedent about his intention to add Ceuta and Melilla to the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories in 1975. Despite the failure, "the Moroccan authorities have continued to maintain a revisionist attitude regarding the delimitation of their founding borders" (Jordan, 2019, par.8).

In recent years, this polarization has contributed to repeated claims in terms of international liability for damages, the adoption of complementary security measures, negotiations to expand limits, and delays in demarcation operations. Ceuta and Melilla are considered by academics as an important geopolitical center, with the capacity to alter the flexible migratory tradition of passage from Africa to Europe, for which it is necessary to know the characteristics that have led these two cities to become the what are they now

The territories of Ceuta and Melilla are mainly maritime strategic points that have served as a base for various military, defensive, prison and commercial functions over the years. Both towns are isolated from each other, due to the distance that separates them (almost 250 kilometers by sea and around 500 by road), which makes communication difficult. Likewise, there are no commercial flights or railway lines that allow rapid transfer between both provinces.

There are also various elements that contribute to the development of the reality of the enclaves as conflict zones. Among them, religious and demographic factors stand out, which significantly influenced linguistic and cultural variations, resulting in, in most cases, a prevalence of Spanish over other minority languages, as well as a privileged position of those with Spanish nationality over Africans and Muslims.

Conflicted Enclaves

The interest on the part of Spain in Ceuta and Melilla arises, historically, from the preservation of the maritime borders that it maintains in Africa, which connect with the European continent (Remacha, 1994, p.198). It is until 1978 that its autonomous character is mentioned within the fifth of the Transitory Provisions contained in the Spanish Constitution:

The cities of Ceuta and Melilla may become Autonomous Communities if so decided by their respective Town Halls, through an agreement adopted by the absolute majority of its members and authorized by the Cortes Generales, through an organic law, under the terms provided in article 144.

However, cultural, religious and linguistic differences led to a political confrontation in 1985 between Spaniards and Muslims. Through rallies, demonstrations and hunger strikes by the latter, the Immigration Law, applied in Ceuta and Melilla, contained in the Spanish Constitution, was questioned. Said legislation excluded the Muslim community, which represented around 80% of the population of both territories for that year, from the possibility of obtaining Spanish nationality due to "errors in their documentation" (Rubiano, 2020, pp.246-247 ).

The mobilization of political and social forces, called by all the relevant political parties in Melilla, was described by the then leader of the Muslim community, Aomar Dudú, as a "fascist and racist" act and a "rupture of both communities". Eventually, in the early 1990s, Muslim leaders denounced the marginalization of their population in the cities, demanding social measures to improve their opportunities.

Subsequently, the conflict over the rights of Muslims was left in the background due to problems with the border that the two Autonomous Cities share with Morocco. In 1992, the African country was experiencing a humanitarian crisis that forced thousands of people to move to Spanish territory, becoming a concern. Through an agreement, with the aim of managing the flow of goods and undocumented citizens from Morocco and other neighboring countries, Spain tried to stop a situation that was out of its control (Sagnella, 2020, pp.40-41).

In the same way, walls with wire clothing were built by the European Union to stop the sub-Saharan migrant flow, however, such actions were judged internationally and compared to the Berlin Wall or the border that the United States shares with Mexico. Sagnella (2020) mentions that Ceuta and Melilla became the emblem of failures in migration processes as they are spaces where "the dream of the migrant traveler, so invulnerable to the electoral passions of the new xenophobes, is extinguished, and the abyss of a limbo of legal uncertainty” (p.43).

Likewise, in 2007, after the visit of King Juan Carlos to Ceuta and Melilla, relations between Spain and the African country were threatened. King Mohammed VI of Morocco condemned the action, considering it reckless and a "lack of respect" for the 1991 Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation (Saddiki, 2010). The importance of the region goes beyond a political conflict between States, it also highlights the low visibility of African migrants and the lack of understanding about the cultural and religious diversity shared by the two cities.

Migration crisis and human rights

As a consequence of the foregoing, the most affected are migrants seeking a way out of the situations they live in their countries of origin. An example of this is the death of 23 people, although data from organizations such as Caminando Fronteras mention that the figure could rise to 37, at the hands of the Moroccan authorities for the excessive use of force when trying to stop the passage of 2,000 migrants on the past 24 June in Nador, a Moroccan city bordering Melilla (Reyes, 2022, para. 3-5).

Various international organizations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have condemned the events, requesting lasting solutions to the migration problem facing the region in addition to the protection of people's human rights. However, the Spanish government applauded the “excellent work” of the authorities in Morocco, in preventing “the mafias” from violating the integrity of the country by trafficking in human beings (Reyes, 2022, para.11-15).

Thus, the borders of these two Autonomous Cities appear today, and in the future, as key territories for migration from Africa and Asia. Therefore, knowing and understanding its historical roots, as well as its cultural and religious diversity, is necessary for the Spanish government to have the power to act on the challenges caused by the growing Muslim demography and the Moroccan conflict. In addition, it is necessary to have better migration policies to protect those who seek to cross the border of Ceuta and Melilla, always under the respect of Human Rights and international law.