The Port of Melilla is a cargo, fishing, and passenger port and marina located in

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 ...

, a Spanish autonomous city off the coast of

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

History

A port existed in

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n and Punic ''Russadir'' that continued its activity under Roman rule after the fall of Carthage. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

the port presumably played a part in the interchange of gold, ivory, slaves and cereals imported by the

Caliphate of Córdoba The Caliphate of Córdoba ( ar, خلافة قرطبة; transliterated ''Khilāfat Qurṭuba''), also known as the Cordoban Caliphate was an Islamic state ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 929 to 1031. Its territory comprised Iberia and parts o ...

in exchange for perfume, leather, silk and fabric. During the time of the

Spanish protectorate in Morocco The Spanish protectorate in Morocco ; es, Protectorado español de Marruecos, links=no, was established on 27 November 1912 by a treaty between France and Spain that converted the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco into a formal protect ...

, the iron ore mined from the hinterland was loaded in the port of Melilla by the (CEMR).

Description

It is managed by the port authority of the same name. It competes against the neighbouring port of Beni Ansar (Nador). By 2008 the port moved around tonnes of cargo and passengers. The port has a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

connection to

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Motril Motril () is a town and municipality on the Mediterranean coast in the Granada, Spain. It is the second largest town in the province, with a population of 60,368 as of 2016. The town is located near the Guadalfeo River and is from Granada. Hi ...

and

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 g ...

References

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Transport in Melilla Ports and harbours in Africa Buildings and structures in Melilla