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61-890: The Chafarinas Islands are one of the Spanish territories in North Africa off the Moroccan coast known as plazas de soberanía . These offshore islands were probably the Tres Insulae of the Romans and the Zafrān of the Arabs. They were uninhabited and unclaimed in 1848, when the French government decided to occupy them, in order to monitor the tribes living in the border area between Morocco and French Algeria. A small expedition under

122-417: A protectorate of France, while Spain assumed the role of protecting power over the northern part, called 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 , which

183-442: 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 islands (and a small peninsula) along the coast. In the present, 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. During

244-737: A part of Spain , therefore also part of the European Union , and their currency is the euro . Melilla Melilla ( / m ɛ ˈ l iː j ə / mel- EE -yə , Spanish: [meˈliʝa] ; Tarifit : Mřič ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks , bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea . It has an area of 12.3 km (4.7 sq mi). It

305-479: A population of 86,487. The population is chiefly divided between people of Iberian and Riffian extraction. There is also a small number of Sephardic Jews and Sindhi Hindus . Melilla features a diglossia between the official Spanish and Tarifit . Like the autonomous city of Ceuta and Spain's other territories in Africa, Melilla is subject to an irredentist claim by Morocco. Borrowed from Spanish ,

366-533: A railway between the port and the mines. In October of that year, Bou Hmara's vassals revolted against him and raided the mines, which remained closed until June 1909. By July the workmen were again attacked and several were killed. Severe fighting between the Spaniards and the tribesmen followed, in the Second Melillan campaign that took place in the vicinity of Melilla. In 1910, the Spaniards restarted

427-601: A series of Spanish overseas minor 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,

488-474: Is Nador , and the ports of Melilla and Nador are within the same bay; nearby is the Bou Areg Lagoon. Melilla has a warm Mediterranean climate on the border with a hot Semi-arid climate , influenced by its proximity to the sea, rendering much cooler summers and more precipitation than inland areas deeper into Africa. The climate, in general, is similar to the southern coast of peninsular Spain and

549-516: Is a 25-member body whose members are elected through universal suffrage every 4 years in closed party lists following the schedule of local elections at the national level. Its members are called "local deputies " but they rather enjoy the status of concejales (municipal councillors). Unlike regional legislatures (and akin to municipal councils), the assembly does not enjoy right of initiative for primary legislation. The president of Melilla (who, often addressed as Mayor-President, also exerts

610-488: Is a 30-man military garrison on Isla Isabel II, the only stable population on the small archipelago, down from 426 people in 1900 and 736 people in 1910. Small numbers of scientists, anti-trafficking police, and other authorized personnel sometimes increase the population to around 50. The islands had relevance in Spanish environmentalist circles during the 1980s and 1990s, as the last individual of Mediterranean monk seal in Spanish territory lived there until it disappeared in

671-571: Is also economically connected to Morocco: most of its fruit and vegetables are imported across the border. Moroccans in the city's hinterland are attracted to it: 36,000 Moroccans cross the border daily to work, shop or trade goods. The port of Melilla offers several daily connections to Almería and Málaga . Melilla Airport offers daily flights to Almería, Málaga and Madrid . Spanish operators Air Europa and Iberia operate in Melilla's airport. Many people travelling between Europe and Morocco use

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732-760: Is similar to that of towns in the region of the Moroccan Rif and southern Spain. Melilla was progressively ruled by the Vandals , Byzantines , and the Visigoths . In the early 6th century, it was the main port of the Mauro-Roman Kingdom . After the Islamic conquest of North Africa , it fell under the Umayyads , Cordobans , Idrisids , Almoravids , Almohads , Marinids , and Wattasids . During

793-502: Is subdivided into eight districts ( distritos ), which are further subdivided into neighbourhoods ( barrios ): The gross domestic product (GDP) of the autonomous community was 1.6 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 0.1% of Spanish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 19,900 euros or 66% of the EU27 average in the same year. Melilla was the NUTS2 region with

854-689: Is the city in Spain with the highest proportion of postal voting ; vote buying (via mail-in ballots) is widely reported to be a common practice in the poor neighborhoods of Melilla. Court cases in this matter had involved the PP, the CPM and the PSOE. On 15 June 2019, following the May 2019 Melilla Assembly election , the regionalist and left-leaning party of Muslim and Amazigh persuasion Coalition for Melilla (CPM, 8 seats),

915-664: The Compañía Española de las Minas del Rif  [ es ] , was constituted in July 1908, shared by Clemente Fernández, Enrique Macpherson, the Count of Romanones , the Duke of Tovar and Juan Antonio Güell  [ es ] , who appointed Miguel Villanueva as chairman. Thus two mining companies under the protection of Bou Hmara started mining lead and iron 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from Melilla. They started to construct

976-652: The English name Melilla is pronounced / m ɛ ˈ l iː j ə / or / m ə ˈ l iː j ə / ( meh- or mə- LEE -yə ) to approximate the sound of the Spanish double L , properly [meˈliʝa] in most standard Spanish dialects . The name is attested from the 9th century, deriving from Arabic Malīlya ( مَلِيلْيَة , [maˈliːlja] ) of uncertain etymology. The name has been related to honey ( Spanish : miel ; Latin : mel ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : μέλι , méli ) since Melilla

1037-669: 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 August 1415, the Portuguese conquered the city of Ceuta . In 1481, the papal bull Aeterni regis had granted all land south of the Canary Islands to Portugal. Only this archipelago and

1098-809: The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE, 4 seats) and Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs, 1 seat) voted in favour of the Cs' candidate ( Eduardo de Castro ) as the Presidency of the Autonomous City, ousting Juan José Imbroda , from the People's Party (PP, 10 seats), who had been in office since 2000. Melilla also maintains a local police force known as Policia Local de Melilla (Ciudad Autonoma de Melilla - Policia Local). Melilla

1159-480: 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. 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

1220-556: The province of Mauretania Tingitana . Pliny mentions it as a native hillfort and port ( Latin : oppidum et portus ). It was made a Roman colony in AD 46 , after which it was sometimes referenced as Flavia . Rusaddir was said to have once been the seat of a bishop, but there is no record of any bishop of the purported see and it is not included in the Catholic Church 's list of modern titular sees . The political history

1281-620: The 12 km the autonomous city currently stands. Following the declaration of Melilla as a free port in 1863, the population began to increase, chiefly with Sephardi Jews fleeing from Tetouan who fostered trade in and out of the city. The first Jews from Tetouan probably arrived in 1864, and the first rabbi arrived in 1867 and began to operate the first synagogue, located in the Calle de San Miguel. Many Jews arrived fleeing from persecution in Morocco instigated by Roghi Bu Hamara . Following

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1342-742: The 15th century, the city declined, like most Mediterranean cities of the Kingdom of Fez , eclipsed by those on the Atlantic. After the Catholic Monarchs ' conquest of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada in 1492, their Secretary Hernando de Zafra  [ es ] gathered intelligence about the sorry state of the North African coast with territorial expansion in mind. He sent agents to investigate, and subsequently reported to

1403-429: The 1868 lifting of the veto of emigration to Melilla from Peninsular Spain, the population further increased with Spaniards. The Jewish population, who also progressively acquired Spanish citizenship, increased to 572 in 1893. The economic opportunities created in Melilla henceforth favoured the installment of a Berber population. The first body of local government was the junta de arbitrios created in 1879, in which

1464-773: The 1990s. Nine out of eleven of its marine invertebrates are considered endangered species and it is the home of the second largest colony of endangered Audouin's gull in the world. The islands have been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support, as well as the Audouin's gull colony, a breeding colony of Scopoli's shearwaters , with some 800–1,000 breeding pairs estimated in 2001–2004. 35°11′N 2°26′W  /  35.183°N 2.433°W  / 35.183; -2.433 Plazas de soberan%C3%ADa The plazas de soberanía ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈplaθas ðe soβeɾaˈni.a] , lit. "strongholds of sovereignty") are

1525-513: The Algerian cities of Ghazaouet and Oran . Melilla began to suffer from this, to which the instability brought by revolts against Muley Abdel Aziz in the hinterland also added, although after 1905 Sultan pretender El Rogui ( Bou Hmara ) carried out a defusing policy in the area that favoured Spain. The French occupation of Oujda in 1907 compromised the Melillan trade with that city, and

1586-631: The Canary and Balearic Islands), the city's population spends a comparatively larger amount of money on bottled water . Funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir  [ es ] , works for the expansion of the plant's production capabilities up to 30,000 m (39,000 cu yd) a day started by September 2020. The dome of

1647-626: The Catholic Monarchs that, as of 1494, locals had expelled the authority of the Sultan of Fez and had offered to pledge loyalty. While the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas put Melilla and Cazaza , until then reserved to the Portuguese, under the sphere of Castile , the conquest of the city had to wait, delayed by the French occupation of Naples. The Duke of Medina Sidonia , Juan Alfonso Pérez de Guzmán , advocated seizing Melilla, to be headed by Pedro de Estopiñán  [ es ] , and

1708-487: The Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon , endorsed the initiative and provided the assistance of artillery officer Francisco Ramírez de Madrid . Melilla was occupied on 17 September 1497, virtually without violence as it was on the border between the Kingdom of Tlemcen and the Kingdom of Fez, and as a result had been fought over many times and left abandoned. No large-scale expansion into

1769-630: The Franco regime from all public buildings and spaces. Nonetheless, the statue remained on the Cuesta de la Florentina street until its final removal in 2021. Melilla is in northwest Africa, on the shores of the Alboran Sea , a marginal sea of the Mediterranean , the latter's westernmost portion. The city is arranged in a wide semicircle around the beach and the Port of Melilla , on the eastern side of

1830-663: The Kingdom of Fez ensued, and, barring the enterprises of the Cardinal Cisneros along the Algerian coast in Mers El Kébir and Oran , and the rock of Badis in the territorial scope of the Kingdom of Fez, the Hispanic monarchy's imperial impetus was eventually directed elsewhere, to the Italian Wars against France, and, especially after 1519, to the newly discovered continent across the Atlantic. Melilla

1891-514: The Moroccan government. It was the first time a Spanish monarch had visited Melilla in 80 years. Melilla, together with Ceuta, declared the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha —Feast of the Sacrifice— an official public holiday from 2010 onward. It is the first time a non-Christian religious festival has been officially celebrated in Spain since the Reconquista . In 2018, Morocco decided to close

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1952-593: The Spanish territory around the Melilla fortress were fixed by treaties with Morocco in 1859, 1860 , 1861, and 1894. In the late 19th century, as Spanish influence expanded in this area, the Crown authorized Melilla as the only centre of trade on the Rif coast between Tetuan and the Algerian border. The value of trade increased, with goat skins, eggs and beeswax the principal exports, and cotton goods, tea, sugar and candles

2013-691: The arrival of the first democratically elected municipal corporation on the wake of the proclamation of the Second Republic . The city was used as one of the staging grounds for the July 1936 military coup d'état that started the Spanish Civil War . In the context of the passing of the Ley de Extranjería in 1986, and following social mobilization from the Berber community, conditions for citizenship acquisition were flexibilised and allowed for

2074-629: The capture of the Río de Oro's underflow. Seeking to address the water supply problem, works for the construction of a desalination plant in the Aguadú cliffs, projected to produce 22,000 m (29,000 cu yd) a day, started in November 2003. The plant entered operation in March 2007. Its daily operation is partially funded by the central government. Relative to the Spanish average (and similarly to

2135-500: The chief imports. Melilla's civil population in 1860 still amounted to only 375 estimated inhabitants. In a 1866 Hispano-Moroccan arrangement signed in Fes , both parties agreed to allow for the installment of a customs office near the border with Melilla, to be operated by Moroccan officials. The Treaty of Peace with Morocco that followed the 1859–60 War entailed the acquisition of a new perimeter for Melilla, bringing its area to that where

2196-699: The command of Colonel MacMahon (the future Marshal MacMahon ) left Oran by sea and by land in January 1848 to take possession of the islands. Forewarned by its consul in Oran, Spain, which also coveted the Chafarinas, quickly dispatched a warship to the islands from Malaga. When the French arrived, the Spaniards had already taken possession of the islands in the name of Queen Isabel II. The Chafarinas Islands are made up of three islands (from west to east, with areas in hectares ): Under Spanish control since 1847, there

2257-466: The correspondent VAT. There are some special manufacturing taxes regarding electricity and transport, as well as complementary charges on tobacco and oil and fuel products. The principal industry is fishing. Cross-border commerce (legal or smuggled) and Spanish and European grants and wages are the other income sources. Melilla is regularly connected to the Iberian peninsula by air and sea traffic and

2318-415: The customs office near Melilla, the first time since mid-19th century, without any consultation wtith Spain. The customs office was expected to reopen in January 2023. Melilla was the location of the last public statue in Spain to commemorate former dictator Francisco Franco following Spain's Historical Memory Law , passed in 2007, which included provision to the removal of any artefacts which celebrated

2379-463: The enduring instability in the Rif still threatened Melilla. Between 1909 and 1945, the modernista ( Art Nouveau ) style was prevalent in local architecture, making Melilla's streets a "true museum of modernista -style architecture", second only to Barcelona, mainly stemming from the work of architect Enrique Nieto . Mining companies began to enter the hinterland of Melilla by 1908. A Spanish company,

2440-565: The ferry links to Melilla, both for passengers and for freight. Because of this, the port and related companies form an important economic driver for the city. In order to boost growth and as a measure to promote tourism in the Autonomous City of Melilla, the Tourist Board has developed a Regulatory Decree for bonuses for Tourist Packages to Melilla. The Tourist package consists of the application of discounts on return tickets by plane or boat provided that they include accommodation during

2501-425: The garrison of the place on 7 June 1556. During the late 17th century, Alaouite sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif attempted to conquer the presidio , taking the outer fortifications in the 1680s and further unsuccessfully besieging Melilla in the 1690s. One Spanish officer reflected, "an hour in Melilla, from the point of view of merit, was worth more than thirty years of service to Spain." The current limits of

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2562-551: The independence of Portugal after the end of the Spanish-led Iberian Union , Ceuta was ceded by Portugal to Spain in 1668. 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

2623-638: The island. It has since been evacuated by both countries. On 3 January 2020, 42 migrants went to the Chafarinas Islands ; the Spanish Civil Guard ordered their immediate expulsion without following the legal procedure. The Spanish NGO 'Walking Border' denounced the "hot returns" as violations of international law. In addition to Ceuta and Melilla , there are historically several minor plazas de soberanía : Apart from these, there are two other islands usually considered within

2684-432: The lowest GDP per capita in Spain. Melilla does not participate in the European Union Customs Union (EUCU). There is no VAT (IVA) tax, but a local reduced-rate tax called IPSI. Preserving the status of free port , imports are free of tariffs and the only tax concerning them is the IPSI. Exports to the Customs Union (including Peninsular Spain) are however subject to the correspondent customs tariff and are taxed with

2745-457: The military enjoy preponderance. The Polígono excepcional de Tiro, the first neighborhood outside the walled core ( Melilla la Vieja ), began construction in 1888. In 1893, Riffian tribesmen launched the First Melillan campaign to try to conquer the city; the Spanish government sent 25,000 soldiers to defend it against them. The conflict was also known as the Margallo War , after Spanish General Juan García y Margallo , Governor of Melilla, who

2806-413: The mines and undertook harbor works at Mar Chica, but hostilities broke out again in 1911. On 22 July 1921, the Berbers under the leadership of Abd el Krim inflicted a grave defeat on the Spanish at the Battle of Annual . The Spanish retreated to Melilla, leaving most of the protectorate under the control of the Republic of the Rif . A royal decree pursuing the creation of an ayuntamiento in Melilla

2867-407: The municipality of Almería on the Iberian Peninsula. 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

2928-434: The naturalisation of a substantial number of inhabitants, until then born in Melilla but without Spanish citizenship. In 1995, Melilla —until then just another municipality of the Málaga — became an autonomous city , as their Statute of Autonomy was passed. On 6 November 2007, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia visited Melilla, with several display of affection from the population. The visit also sparked protests from

2989-433: The northern coast of Morocco, with relatively small temperature differences between seasons. Minimum temperatures have never been below 0 °C (32 °F) during 1991-2020 period, and only 2.2 days per year have maximum temperature above 35 °C (95 °F). The government bodies stipulated in the Statute of Autonomy are the Assembly of Melilla , the President of Melilla and the Council of Government. The assembly

3050-441: The peninsula of Cape Tres Forcas , at the foot of Mount Gurugú  [ es ] and around the mouth of the Río de Oro intermittent water stream, 1 meter (3 ft 3 in) above sea level. The urban nucleus was originally a fortress , Melilla la Vieja , built on a peninsular mound about 30 meters (98 ft) in height. The Moroccan settlement of Beni Ansar lies immediately south of Melilla. The nearest Moroccan city

3111-423: The possessions of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña (1476–1524), 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 (1509–1708; 1732–1792), Algiers (1510–1529), Bugia (1510–1554), Tripoli (1511–1551), and Tunis (1535–1569) remained as Spanish territory in Africa. Finally, following

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3172-405: The president can only be ousted with a qualified majority voting for an alternative assembly member. The Council of Government is the traditional collegiate executive body for parliamentary systems . Unlike the municipal government boards in the standard ayuntamientos , the members of the Council of Government (including the vice-presidents) do not need to be members of the assembly. Melilla

3233-424: The roles of Mayor, president of the Assembly, president of the Council of Government and representative of the city) is invested by the Assembly. After local elections, the president is invested through a qualified majority from among the leaders of the election lists, or, failing to achieve the former, the leader of the most voted list at the election is invested to the office. In case of a motion of no confidence

3294-409: The stay in Melilla in one of the types of tourist accommodation or at the home of a resident of the city and do not exceed, between the round trip dates, ten days. Melilla's water supply primarily came from a network of dug wells (which by the turn of the 21st century suffered from overexploitation and had also experienced a degradation of the water quality and the intrusion of seawater ), as well as

3355-400: Was a Phoenician and later Punic trade establishment under variations of the name Rusadir ( Punic : 𐤓‬𐤔𐤀𐤃𐤓‬ , ršʾdr ), taken from the Phoenician name of the nearby Cape Three Forks . After Carthage 's defeat in the Punic Wars , the city fell under the control of the Roman client state Mauretania . After its annexation under Caligula , Claudius organized it as part of

3416-457: Was a notable site for beekeeping in antiquity, a bee appearing prominently on the city's bronze coinage under Mauretanian rule. Alternatively, it has been taken from words meaning "discord", "fever", or a medieval Arab figure. The placename perhaps comes from the Amazigh root M·L (meaning 'white'), producing the Amazigh mlilet and which results in the local Mrič ( [mrɪtʃ] ) via /l/→ [r] and /lt/ → [č] changes. Melilla

3477-401: 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

3538-499: Was initially jointly administered by the House of Medina Sidonia and the Crown, and a 1498 settlement required the former to station a 700-man garrison in Melilla and the latter to provide the city with a number of maravedíes and wheat fanegas . The Crown's interest in Melilla decreased during the reign of Charles V . During the 16th century, soldiers stationed in Melilla were badly remunerated, leading to many desertions. The Duke of Medina Sidonia relinquished responsibility over

3599-479: Was killed in the battle. The new 1894 agreement with Morocco that followed the conflict increased trade with the hinterland , bringing the economic prosperity of the city to a new level. The total population of Melilla amounted to 10,004 inhabitants in 1896. The turn of the new century saw attempts by France (based in French Algeria ) to profit from their newly acquired sphere of influence in Morocco to counter Melilla's trading prowess by fostering trade links with

3660-404: Was part of the Province of Málaga until 14 March 1995, when the Statute of Autonomy of Melilla was passed. Melilla is one of the special territories of the member states of the European Union . Movements to and from the rest of the EU and Melilla are subject to specific rules, provided for inter alia in the Accession Agreement of Spain to the Schengen Convention . As of 2019, Melilla had

3721-413: Was signed on 13 December 1918 but the regulation did not come into force, and thus the existing government body, the junta de arbitrios , remained in force. A "junta municipal" with a rather civil composition was created in 1927; on 10 April 1930, an ayuntamiento featuring the same membership as the junta was created, equalling to the same municipal regime as the rest of Spain on 14 April 1931, with

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