Plazas de soberanía
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The plazas de soberanía (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈplaθas ðe soβeɾaˈni.a], "places of sovereignty"), formerly referred to as "África Septentrional Española" (Spanish North Africa) or simply "África Española" (Spanish Africa) are the current Spanish territories in continental North Africa bordering Morocco, except the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
Since the Reconquista, the Spanish army conquered and maintained numerous emplacements in North Africa as a defense against North Africa.[1] Many of them, such as Oran, have been lost, and nowadays, with an approximate population of 145,000 people (with Ceuta and Melilla), only the Islas Chafarinas, the Peñón de Alhucemas and the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera are still part of Spain.
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[edit] Physical geography
There are three plazas de soberanía: the Islas Chafarinas, Peñón de Alhucemas, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera.
Apart from those, Isla Perejil, a small uninhabited islet close to Ceuta that was the subject of a confrontation with Morocco in 2002, has been lately defined[who?] as an extra plaza de soberanía. It is not a plaza de soberanía in itself but, rather, no-man's land.[citation needed] The Isla de Alborán, another small island in the western Mediterranean, about 50 kilometres north of the Moroccan coast and 90 kilometres south of Spain, administratively belongs to the city council of Almería and is part of the Almería Pescadería (fish market) district.
[edit] Political geography
The plazas de soberanía are tiny islets off the coast of Morocco which have no civilian population. They are guarded by military garrisons and administered directly by the Spanish government.
As part of Spain, they are also part of the European Union, and their currency is the euro.
[edit] History
In 1481 the Papal bull Æterni regis had granted all land south of the Canary Islands to Portugal. Only this archipelago and the cities of Sidi Ifni (1476 – 1524), known then as "Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña", Melilla (conquered by Pedro de Estopiñán in 1497), Villa Cisneros (founded in 1502 in current Western Sahara), Mazalquivir (1505), Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera (1508), Oran (1509 – 1790), Algiers (1510 – 29), Bugia (1510 – 54), Tripoli (1511 – 51), Tunis (1535 – 69) and Ceuta (ceded by Portugal in 1668) remained as Spanish territory in Africa.
In 1848, Spanish troops conquered the Islas Chafarinas.
When Spain relinquished its protectorate over the North of Morocco, Spanish Morocco, and recognized Morocco's independence in 1956, it did not give over the plazas de soberanía, since Spain had held them since before its acquiring its protectorate. They are, however, part of the Greater Morocco claimed by nationalist movements in Morocco.
In July 11, 2002 Morocco stationed some soldiers from the Moroccan Auxiliary Forces on Isla Perejil. The Spanish Armed Forces responded by capturing the island and evicting the Moroccan troops without bloodshed a week later. The island has since been withdrawn from by both countries.
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[edit] References
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