The ''plazas de soberanía'' (, lit. "strongholds of sovereignty") is a term describing a series of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

overseas minor territories scattered along the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coast bordering

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

or that are closer to Africa than Europe. This term is used for those territories that have been a part of Spain since the formation of the modern country (1492–1556), as opposed to African territories acquired by Spain during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the

Scramble for Africa The Scramble for Africa, also called the Partition of Africa, or Conquest of Africa, was the invasion, annexation, division, and colonisation of Africa, colonization of most of Africa by seven Western Europe, Western European powers during a ...

. Historically, a distinction was made between the so-called "major places of sovereignty", comprising the autonomous cities of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

and

Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...

, and the "minor places of sovereignty", referring to a number of islands (and a small peninsula) along the coast. In the present, the term refers mainly to the latter.

History

During the

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

and mainly following the conquest of

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

in 1492, forces of the Castilian and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

kingdoms conquered and maintained numerous posts in North Africa for trade and as a defence against Barbary piracy. In August 1415, the Portuguese conquered the city of

. In 1481, the Papal bull ''

Aeterni regis The papal bull ''Aeterni regis'' nglish: "Of the eternal king"was issued on 21 June 1481 by Pope Sixtus IV. It confirmed the substance of the Treaty of Alcáçovas, reiterating that treaty's confirmation of Castile in its possession of the Cana ...

'' had granted all land south of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

to Portugal. Only this archipelago and the possessions of

Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña (literally ''Holy Cross of the Little Sea'') was a Spanish XV century settlement close to Akhfennir, in the Tarfaya Province, in Morocco. History Founded by the Canary Islands lord Diego de Herrera in 1478 as a tradi ...

(1476–1524),

( conquered by Pedro de Estopiñán in 1497),

Villa Cisneros Dakhla ( ar, الداخلة, Berber: Eddaxla / ⴷⴷⴰⵅⵍⴰ, es, Dajla, Villa Cisneros) is a city in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, currently occupied by Morocco. It is the capital of the claimed Moroccan administrative re ...

(founded in 1502 in current

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

), Mazalquivir (1505), Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera (1508),

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

(1509–1708; 1732–1792),

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

(1510–1529), Bugia (1510–1554),

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

(1511–1551), and

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

(1535–1569) remained as Spanish territory in Africa. Finally, following the independence of Portugal after the end of the Spanish-led

Iberian Union pt, União Ibérica , conventional_long_name =Iberian Union , common_name = , year_start = 1580 , date_start = 25 August , life_span = 1580–1640 , event_start = War of the Portuguese Succession , event_end = Portuguese Restoration War , ...

was ceded by Portugal to Spain in 1668. In 1848, Spanish troops conquered the

Islas Chafarinas The Chafarinas Islands ( es, Islas Chafarinas , ber, Igumamen Iceffaren, script=Latn or , ar, جزر الشفارين or ), also spelled Zafarin, Djaferin or Zafarani, are a group of three small Spanish islets located in the Alboran Sea off the ...

. In the late 19th century, after the so-called

, European nations had taken over colonial control of most of the African continent. The

Treaty of Fez The Treaty of Fes ( ar, معاهدة فاس, ), officially the Treaty Concluded Between France and Morocco on 30 March 1912, for the Organization of the French Protectorate in the Sherifien Empire (), was a treaty signed by Sultan Abd al-Hafid o ...

(signed on 30 March 1912) made most of Morocco a

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...

of France, while Spain assumed the role of

protecting power A protecting power is a country that represents another sovereign state in a country where it lacks its own diplomatic representation. It is common for protecting powers to be appointed when two countries break off diplomatic relations with e ...

over the northern part, Spanish Morocco. When Spain relinquished its protectorate and recognized Morocco's independence in 1956, it did not give up these minor territories, as Spain had held them well before the establishment of its protectorate. On 11 July 2002, Morocco stationed six gendarmes on

Perejil Island Perejil Island ( es, Isla de Perejil, ber, Tura or , ar, تورة, translit=Tūra), also known as Parsley Island, is a small, uninhabited rocky islet located off the coast of Morocco. It is administered by Spain as one of the '' plazas de ...

, which was at the time a source of complaint by Spain. The

Spanish Armed Forces The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Constitution o ...

responded by launching a military operation code-named

Operation Romeo-Sierra The Perejil Island crisis (; ) was a bloodless armed conflict between Spain and Morocco that took place on 11–18 July 2002. The incident took place over the small, uninhabited Perejil Island, when a squad of the Royal Moroccan Navy occupied it. ...

. The operation was carried out by Spanish commandos of '' Grupo de Operaciones Especiales''. The

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

and

Spanish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...

provided support; the six Moroccan navy cadets did not offer any resistance and were captured and evicted from the island. It has since been evacuated by both countries.

Physical geography

In addition to

and

, there are historically three minor ''plazas de soberanía'': Apart from these, there are two other islands usually considered within the ''plazas de soberanía''. The disputed

(), a small uninhabited islet close to Ceuta, is considered by Spain to be a part of Ceuta and not a territory in its own right.

Alboran Island Alboran Island ( es, Isla de Alborán) is a small islet of Spain (province of Almería) in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean Sea, about north of the Moroccan coast and from the Spanish mainland. The main buildings are an automa ...

(), another small island in the western Mediterranean, about 50 kilometres (31.05 miles) from the African coast and 90 kilometres (55.92 miles) from Europe, is administered as part of the municipality of

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

on the Iberian Peninsula.

Political geography

The ''plazas de soberanía'' are small islands and a peninsula off the coast of Morocco (the only peninsula, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, was an island until a 1934 storm formed a sand bridge with the mainland). They are guarded by military garrisons and administered directly by the Spanish central government. Like Ceuta and Melilla, they are a part of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, therefore also part of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, and their currency is the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

Territorial dispute with Morocco

claims sovereignty over the ''plazas de soberanía'', including

and

Notes

References