The plazas de soberanía (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈplaθasðesoβeɾaˈni.a]), meaning "strongholds of sovereignty",[3] are a series of Spanish overseas territories scattered along the Mediterranean coast bordering Morocco in Africa, 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.
Historically, a distinction was made between the so-called "major places of sovereignty", comprising the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and the "minor places of sovereignty", referring to a number of uninhabited islands and a small peninsula along the coast. Now the term refers mainly to the latter.
Morocco has claimed those territories (except the island of Alborán, further away from Africa) since its independence in 1956.[4]
History
Aerial view of the Peñón de Alhucemas c. 1925
During the Reconquista and mainly following the conquest of Granada in 1492, forces of the Castilian and Portuguese kingdoms conquered and maintained numerous posts in North Africa for trade and as a defence against Barbary piracy.
In 1848, Spanish troops conquered the Islas Chafarinas. In the late 19th century, after the so-called Scramble for Africa, European nations had taken over colonial control of most of the African continent. The Treaty of Fez (signed on 30 March 1912) made most of Morocco a protectorate of France, while Spain assumed the role of protecting power over the northern part, called Spanish Morocco.[6]
Map of Spanish Morocco in 1925
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, which was at the time a source of complaint by Spain. The Spanish Armed Forces responded by launching a military operation code-named Operation Romeo-Sierra. The operation was carried out by Spanish commandos of Grupo de Operaciones Especiales.
The Spanish Navy and Spanish Air Force 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.[7]
On 3 January 2020, 42 migrants went to the Chafarinas Islands; the Spanish Civil Guard ordered their immediate expulsion without following the legal procedure.[8] The Spanish NGO 'Walking Border' denounced the "hot returns" as violations of international law.[9]
Apart from these, there are two other islands usually considered within the plazas de soberanía. The disputed Perejil Island (Isla Perejil), 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.[12]Alboran Island (Isla de Alborán), 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 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, therefore also part of the European Union, and their currency is the euro.
^"plaza #3". Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish) (tricentenary ed.). Retrieved 6 May 2020.
^Trinidad, Jamie (2012). "An Evaluation of Morocco's Claims to Spain's Remaining Territories in Africa". International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 61 (4): 861. JSTOR23279813. Ceuta, Melilla, Vélez de la Gomera, Alhucemas and the Chafarinas Islands are Spanish territories that lie along Morocco's northern coastline. Morocco has claimed the territories since its independence in 1956. The sovereignty of a further territory, the islet of Perejil, remains unresolved after a military confrontation between Morocco and Spain in 2002.
^Tremlett, Giles (13 July 2002). "Moroccans seize Parsley Island and leave a bitter taste in Spanish mouths". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 May 2014. When officers from Spain's civil guard police force arrived on a small patrol boat from the nearby Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta three miles away and to which the islet nominally belongs...
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