130-581: Law 52/2007 , commonly known as Historical Memory Law (Sp: Ley de Memoria Histórica ), recognises and broadens "the rights and establishes measures in favour of those who suffered persecution or violence during the civil war and the dictatorship ." It was passed by the Congress of Deputies on 31 October 2007, on the basis of a bill proposed by the PSOE government of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero . The Historical Memory Law principally recognizes
260-461: 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
390-508: 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 , 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
520-632: A collapse as in Spain at this moment. Abroad, Spain is classified as insolvent. This is not the road to socialism or communism but to desperate anarchism without even the advantage of liberty". The disenchantment with Azaña's ruling was also voiced by Miguel de Unamuno , a republican and one of Spain's most respected intellectuals who, in June 1936, told a reporter who published his statement in El Adelanto that President Manuel Azaña should commit suicide "as
650-649: A lesser scale also took place in areas controlled by the Republicans, with the participation of local authorities varying from location to location. The 19th century was a turbulent time for Spain. Those in favour of reforming the Spanish government vied for political power with conservatives who intended to prevent such reforms from being implemented. In a tradition that started with the Spanish Constitution of 1812 , many liberals sought to curtail
780-404: A monopoly on hiring; strikes; and efforts by unions to limit women's employment, all done to preserve a labour monopoly for their members. Class struggle intensified as landowners turned to counterrevolutionary organisations and local oligarchs. Strikes, workplace theft, arson, robbery and assaults on shops, strikebreakers, employers and machines became increasingly common. Ultimately, the reforms of
910-414: A national investigation into Franco and his allies. He dropped the investigation the same year after state prosecutors questioned his jurisdiction over Francoist crimes. In a 152-page statement, he passed responsibility to regional courts for opening 19 mass graves believed to hold the remains of hundreds of victims. Subsequently, a Spanish court upheld the 1977 Amnesty Law , declaring that Garzón had opened
1040-516: A new "constituent parliament" which would be chosen by a new politically purged electorate, who would vote on the issue of republic versus monarchy. Liberal elements would remain, such as separation of church and state as well as freedom of religion. Agrarian issues would be solved by regional commissioners on the basis of smallholdings, but collective cultivation would be permitted in some circumstances. Legislation prior to February 1936 would be respected. Violence would be required to destroy opposition to
1170-539: A patriotic act". Laia Balcells observes that polarisation in Spain just before the coup was so intense that physical confrontations between leftists and rightists were a routine occurrence in most localities; six days before the coup occurred, there was a riot between the two in the province of Teruel. Balcells notes that Spanish society was so divided along Left-Right lines that the monk Hilari Raguer stated that in his parish, instead of playing "cops and robbers", children would sometimes play "leftists and rightists". Within
1300-533: 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
1430-449: A reprisal for Castillo's murder. But he was not at home, so they went to the house of José Calvo Sotelo , a Spanish monarchist and prominent parliamentary conservative. Luis Cuenca, a member of the arresting group and a Socialist who was known as the bodyguard of PSOE leader Indalecio Prieto , summarily executed Sotelo. Reprisals followed. The killing of Calvo Sotelo with police involvement aroused suspicions and reactions among
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#17327662771721560-566: A socialist Republic in association with the Soviet Union". Francisco Largo Caballero declared that "the organized proletariat will carry everything before it and destroy everything until we reach our goal". The country had rapidly become anarchic. Even the staunch socialist Indalecio Prieto , at a party rally in Cuenca in May 1936, complained: "we have never seen so tragic a panorama or so great
1690-460: A struggle between dictatorship and republican democracy , between revolution and counterrevolution , and between fascism and communism . According to Claude Bowers , U.S. ambassador to Spain during the war, it was the " dress rehearsal " for World War II . The Nationalists won the war, which ended in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975. The war began after
1820-533: A taxi driver was attacked outside a monarchist club sparked anti-clerical violence throughout Madrid and south-west portion of the country. The slow response on the part of the government disillusioned the right and reinforced their view that the Republic was determined to persecute the church. In June and July, the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) called several strikes , which led to
1950-708: A violent incident between CNT members and the Civil Guard and a brutal crackdown by the Civil Guard and the army against the CNT in Seville . This led many workers to believe the Second Spanish Republic was just as oppressive as the monarchy, and the CNT announced its intention of overthrowing it via revolution . Elections in June 1931 returned a large majority of Republicans and Socialists. With
2080-453: A war of religion, and military authorities increasingly deferred to the Church and to the expression of Catholic sentiment. Mola's program was vague and only a rough sketch, and there were disagreements among coupists about their vision. On 12 June, Prime Minister Casares Quiroga met General Juan Yagüe , who falsely convinced Casares of his loyalty to the republic. Mola began planning in
2210-613: A year of intense pressure, CEDA, the party with the most seats in parliament, finally succeeded in forcing the acceptance of three ministries. The Socialists (PSOE) and Communists reacted with an insurrection for which they had been preparing for nine months. The rebellion developed into a bloody uprising known as the Revolution of 1934 . Fairly well armed revolutionaries managed to take the whole province of Asturias, murdering numerous policemen, clergymen and civilians, destroying religious buildings including churches, convents and part of
2340-531: A year. Events in the period after November 1933, called the " black biennium ", seemed to make a civil war more likely. Alejandro Lerroux of the Radical Republican Party (RRP) formed a government, reversing changes made by the previous administration and granting amnesty to the collaborators of the unsuccessful uprising by General José Sanjurjo in August 1932. Some monarchists joined with
2470-474: 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
2600-516: 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
2730-571: 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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#17327662771722860-718: 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 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
2990-760: 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
3120-502: 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
3250-637: 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),
3380-649: Is unforgivable. The argument that Mr Gil Robles tried to destroy the Constitution to establish fascism was, at once, hypocritical and false. With the rebellion of 1934, the Spanish left lost even the shadow of moral authority to condemn the rebellion of 1936." Reversals of land reform resulted in expulsions, firings and arbitrary changes to working conditions in the central and southern countryside in 1935, with landowners' behaviour at times reaching "genuine cruelty", which included violence against farmworkers and socialists, causing several deaths. One historian argued that
3510-577: The Carlist movement to establish an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty , further destabilized the Spanish monarchy. In 1868, popular uprisings led to the overthrow of Queen Isabella II of the House of Bourbon . Two distinct factors led to the uprisings: a series of urban riots and a liberal movement within the middle classes and the military (led by General Joan Prim ), which was concerned about
3640-664: 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
3770-765: The Guardia de Asalto (Assault Guard). Castillo was a Socialist party member who was giving military training to the UGT youth. Castillo had led the Assault Guards that violently suppressed the riots after the funeral of Guardia Civil lieutenant Anastasio de los Reyes. Assault Guard Captain Fernando Condés was a friend of Castillo. The next day, after getting the approval of the minister of interior to illegally arrest members of parliament, he led his squad to arrest José María Gil-Robles y Quiñones , founder of CEDA, as
3900-560: The Iberian Peninsula to coincide with the risings there. The rising was intended to be a swift coup d'état, but the government retained control of most of the country. Control over Spanish Morocco was all but certain. The plan was discovered in Morocco on 17 July, which prompted the conspirators to enact it immediately. Little resistance was encountered. The rebels shot 189 people. Goded and Franco immediately took control of
4030-642: The POUM , the CNT and the UGT . After the deaths of José Sanjurjo on July 20, 1936, Manuel Goded Llopis on August 12, 1936, and Emilio Mola on June 3, 1937, Franco gradually emerged as the primary leader of the Nationalist side. The Nationalists advanced from their strongholds in the south and west, capturing most of Spain's northern coastline in 1937. They also besieged Madrid and the area to its south and west for much of
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4160-740: The Radical Republican Party , had now endured a series of crises. After a number of corruption scandals, President Niceto Alcalá-Zamora , who was hostile to this government, called another election. The Popular Front narrowly won the 1936 general election . The revolutionary left-wing masses took to the streets and freed prisoners. In the thirty-six hours following the election, sixteen people were killed (mostly by police officers attempting to maintain order or to intervene in violent clashes) and thirty-nine were seriously injured. Additionally, fifty churches and seventy conservative political centres were attacked or set ablaze. Manuel Azaña
4290-809: 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
4420-474: 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 was a notable site for beekeeping in antiquity,
4550-594: The corrupt central government of the country in Madrid , but these circles were ultimately unsuccessful. Popular perception of communism as a major threat significantly increased during this period. In 1923, a military coup brought Miguel Primo de Rivera to power. As a result, Spain transitioned to government by military dictatorship. Support for the Rivera regime gradually faded, and he resigned in January 1930. He
4680-556: 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
4810-565: 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
4940-742: 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
5070-429: 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
5200-513: 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
5330-645: The Army of Africa, made up of 35,000 men, and just under half of Spain's militaristic police forces, the Assault Guards, the Civil Guards , and the Carabineers . Republicans controlled under half of the rifles and about a third of both machine guns and artillery pieces. The Spanish Republican Army had just 18 tanks of a sufficiently modern design, and the Nationalists took control of 10. Naval capacity
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5460-523: The Bourbons were restored to the throne in the figure of Alfonso XII , Isabella's son. After the restoration, Carlists and anarchists emerged in opposition to the monarchy. Alejandro Lerroux , Spanish politician and leader of the Radical Republican Party , helped to bring republicanism to the fore in Catalonia —a region of Spain with its own cultural and societal identity in which poverty
5590-631: 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
5720-576: The Carlists, Mola was chief planner and second in command. José Antonio Primo de Rivera was put in prison in mid-March to restrict the Falange. However, government actions were not as thorough as they might have been, and warnings by the Director of Security and other figures were not acted upon. The revolt was devoid of ideology. The goal was to put an end to anarchical disorder. Mola's plan for
5850-738: 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
5980-432: 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
6110-478: The Catholic country, which included the abolition of Catholic schools and charities, a move which was met with opposition. At this point, once the constituent assembly had fulfilled its mandate of approving a new constitution, but fearing an increasing popular opposition, the Radical and Socialist majority postponed the regular elections, prolonging their time in power for two more years. Diaz's Republican government initiated numerous reforms to, in their view, modernize
6240-422: 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 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
6370-415: 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
6500-403: The Historical Memory Law but largely ignored it. The Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica provided information on victims of Francoist repression, but the government curtailed State help in the exhumation of victims. In 2020, the government of Pedro Sanchez resumed financial support to victim associations for exhumations. In 2020, El Pais reported that the Pedro Sánchez administration
6630-418: 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
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#17327662771726760-404: 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
6890-486: The Nationalist zone 50,000–72,000 civilians killed inside the Republican zone The Spanish Civil War ( Spanish : guerra civil española ) was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalists . Republicans were loyal to the left -leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic , and consisted of various socialist , communist , separatist , anarchist , and republican parties, some of which had opposed
7020-468: The Popular Front's victory in the 1936 election, groups of officers, both active and retired, got together to discuss a coup . By the end of April General Emilio Mola emerged as the leader of a national conspiracy network. The Republican government reacted by reshuffling suspect generals from influential posts, Azana however acutely aware that as he did so, the Army still served as a possible buffer to leftist power brokers threatening his government. Franco
7150-431: The Popular Party did offer support for some elements of the Historical Memory Law, including seven amendments to the original text of the law, facilitating the "depoliticisation" of the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen) and monetary aid to victims of the Civil War and Franco regime. The conservative Popular Party government of Mariano Rajoy , which was in power from 2011 until 2018, neither repealed nor amended
7280-425: The Republican-Socialist government alienated as many people as they pleased. Republican Manuel Azaña became prime minister of a minority government in October 1931. Fascism remained a reactive threat and it was facilitated by controversial reforms to the military. In December, a new reformist, liberal and democratic constitution was declared. It included strong provisions enforcing a broad secularisation of
7410-438: 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
7540-465: The United States, continued to recognise the Republican government but followed an official policy of non-intervention . Despite this policy, tens of thousands of citizens from non-interventionist countries directly participated in the conflict. They fought mostly in the pro-Republican International Brigades , which also included several thousand exiles from pro-Nationalist regimes. Smaller numbers of pro-Republican international volunteer fighters fought in
7670-458: 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
7800-445: The authority of the Spanish monarchy as well as to establish a nation-state under the ideology and philosophy that they believed in. The reforms of 1812 were short-lived as they were almost immediately overturned by King Ferdinand VII when he dissolved the aforementioned constitution. This ended the Trienio Liberal government. Twelve successful coups were carried out between 1814 and 1874. There were several attempts to realign
7930-413: The behaviour of the right in the southern countryside was one of the main causes of hatred during the Civil War and possibly even the Civil War itself. Landowners taunted workers by saying that if they went hungry, they should "Go eat the Republic!" Bosses fired leftist workers and imprisoned trade union and socialist militants; wages were reduced to "salaries of hunger". In 1935, the government, led by
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#17327662771728060-420: 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
8190-452: 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
8320-535: The company of armed militants. Conservatives, the middle classes, businessmen and landowners became convinced that revolution had already begun. Prime Minister Santiago Casares Quiroga ignored warnings of a military conspiracy involving several generals, who decided that the government had to be replaced to prevent the dissolution of Spain. Both sides had become convinced that, if the other side gained power, it would discriminate against their members and attempt to suppress their political organisations. Shortly after
8450-411: 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
8580-431: The country. In 1932, the Jesuits were banned and their property was confiscated, the army was reduced, landowners were expropriated. Home rule was granted to Catalonia, with a local parliament and a president of its own. In June 1933, Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Dilectissima Nobis , "On Oppression of the Church of Spain", raising his voice against the persecution of the Catholic Church in Spain. In November 1933,
8710-444: The coup to prevent it from being crushed swiftly. The rebels termed themselves Nacionales , normally translated "Nationalists", although the former implies "true Spaniards" rather than a nationalistic cause . The result of the coup was a nationalist area of control containing 11 million of Spain's population of 25 million. The Nationalists had secured the support of around half of Spain's territorial army, some 60,000 men, joined by
8840-525: The coup very quickly. Conversely, if the coup had risen everywhere in Spain on the 18th rather than be delayed, it could have triumphed by the 22nd. While the militias that rose to meet the rebels were often untrained and poorly armed (possessing only a small number of pistols, shotguns and dynamite), this was offset by the fact that the rebellion was not universal. In addition, the Falangists and Carlists were themselves often not particularly powerful fighters either. However, enough officers and soldiers had joined
8970-413: The coup, though it seems Mola did not envision the mass atrocities and repression that would manifest during the civil war. Of particular importance to Mola was ensuring the revolt was an Army affair, not subject to special interests, ensuring the position of the armed forces as the basis for the new state. However, the separation of church and state was forgotten once the conflict assumed the dimension of
9100-415: 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
9230-478: The deteriorating military situation, Colonel Segismundo Casado led a military coup against the Republican government , intending to seek peace with the Nationalists. These peace overtures, however, were rejected by Franco. Following internal conflict between Republican factions in Madrid in the same month, Franco entered the capital and declared victory on 1 April 1939. Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards fled to refugee camps in southern France . Those associated with
9360-488: The distribution of weapons among the civilian population. This facilitated the defeat of the army insurrection in the main industrial centres, including Madrid, Barcelona , and Valencia , but it allowed anarchists to take control of Barcelona along with large swathes of Aragón and Catalonia. General Goded surrendered in Barcelona and was later condemned to death. The Republican government ended up controlling almost all
9490-475: The east coast and central area around Madrid, as well as most of Asturias , Cantabria and part of the Basque Country in the north. Hugh Thomas suggested that the civil war could have ended in the favour of either side almost immediately if certain decisions had been taken during the initial coup. Thomas argues that if the government had taken steps to arm the workers, they could probably have crushed
9620-408: The electoral results but did not succeed. Despite CEDA's electoral victory, President Alcalá-Zamora declined to invite its leader, Gil Robles, to form a government, fearing CEDA's monarchist sympathies and proposed changes to the constitution. Instead, he invited the Radical Republican Party 's Alejandro Lerroux to do so. Despite receiving the most votes, CEDA was denied cabinet positions for nearly
9750-463: 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,
9880-565: 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
10010-612: The first month of the Popular Front's government, nearly a quarter of the provincial governors had been removed due to their failure to prevent or control strikes, illegal land occupation, political violence and arson. The Popular Front government was more likely to prosecute rightists for violence than leftists who committed similar acts. Between February and July, approximately 300 to 400 deaths occurred from political violence, while hundreds of churches, religious buildings and monuments were destroyed, damaged, or vandalised. Azaña
10140-425: 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
10270-406: The government in the pre-war period. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of Falangists , monarchists , conservatives , and traditionalists led by a military junta among whom General Francisco Franco quickly achieved a preponderant role. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war had many facets and was variously viewed as class struggle , a religious struggle ,
10400-400: The government's opponents on the right. Although the nationalist generals were planning an uprising, the event was a catalyst and a public justification for a coup. Stanley Payne claims that before these events, the idea of rebellion by army officers against the government had weakened; Mola had estimated only 12% of officers reliably supported the coup and Mola considered fleeing for fear he
10530-590: The hands of the government, leaving Spain militarily and politically divided. The Nationalists and the Republican government fought for control of the country. The Nationalist forces received munitions, soldiers, and air support from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany while the Republican side received support from the Soviet Union and Mexico. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom, France , and
10660-868: The help of the British intelligence agents, the rebels chartered a Dragon Rapide aircraft to transport Franco from the Canary Islands to Spanish Morocco . Franco arrived in Morocco on 19 July. Franco was offered this position as Mola's planning for the coup had become increasingly complex and it did not look like it would be as swift as he hoped, instead likely turning into a miniature civil war that would last weeks. Mola had concluded troops in Spain were insufficient and it would be necessary to use elite units from North Africa, something Franco had always believed would be necessary. On 12 July 1936, Falangists in Madrid killed police officer Lieutenant José Castillo of
10790-671: The investigation without proper authority. Members of the conservative Popular Party have tended to support the Amnesty Law. The Amnesty Law is used as the basis of arguments that the Historical Memory Law goes against the spirit of Spain's transition to democracy. For example, the leader of the Popular Party Mariano Rajoy claimed while in opposition that Garzón's attempt to compile a list of victims would needlessly open up old wounds. However,
10920-424: The islands to which they were assigned. On 18 July, Casares Quiroga refused an offer of help from the CNT and Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT), leading the groups to proclaim a general strike—in effect, mobilising. They opened weapons caches, some buried since the 1934 risings, and formed militias. The paramilitary security forces often waited for the outcome of militia action before either joining or suppressing
11050-506: The law is as a means of obtaining retroactive justice. Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), the left wing and Catalan nationalist party, opposed the law for not overturning verdicts reached by judges in political trials conducted in Francoist Spain , although the new legislation did declare these trials illegitimate. Another example of the limits placed on judicial activity is what happened in 2008 when Judge Baltasar Garzón opened
11180-401: The law shut out workers seeking extra income as pickers. Newly established labour arbitration boards regulated salaries, contracts, and working hours, but were more favourable to workers than employers. A decree in July 1931 increased overtime pay and several laws in late 1931 restricted whom landowners could hire. Other efforts included decrees limiting: the use of machinery; efforts to create
11310-571: The left, was quite fragmented: on the one hand socialists and communists supported the republic but on the other, during the republic, anarchists had mixed opinions, though both major groups opposed the Nationalists during the Civil War; the latter, in contrast, were united by their fervent opposition to the Republican government and presented a more unified front. Melilla Melilla ( / m ɛ ˈ l iː j ə / mel- EE -yə , Spanish: [meˈliʝa] ; Tarifit : Mřič )
11440-460: The losing Republicans who stayed were persecuted by the victorious Nationalists. Franco established a dictatorship in which all right-wing parties were fused into the structure of his regime. The war became notable for the passion and political division it inspired worldwide and for the many atrocities that occurred. Organised purges occurred in territory captured by Franco's forces so they could consolidate their future regime. Mass executions on
11570-628: 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
11700-580: 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
11830-520: 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
11960-486: 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
12090-521: The new regime was a "republican dictatorship", modelled after Salazar's Portugal and along the lines of being semi-pluralist authoritarian, rather than fascist totalitarian. The initial government would be an all-military "Directory", which would create a "strong and disciplined state". Sanjurjo would be the head of this new regime, due to being liked and respected within the military, though his position would be symbolic due to his lack of political talent. The 1931 Constitution would be suspended, replaced by
12220-654: 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
12350-642: The onset of the Great Depression , the government tried to assist rural Spain by instituting an eight-hour day and redistributing land tenure to farm workers. The rural workers lived in some of the worst poverty in Europe at the time and the government tried to increase their wages and improve working conditions. This estranged small and medium landholders who used hired labour. The Law of Municipal Boundaries forbade owners from hiring workers outside their locality. When some localities had labour shortages,
12480-607: The partial failure of the coup d'état of July 1936 against the Republican government by a group of generals of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces , with General Emilio Mola as the primary planner and leader and General José Sanjurjo as a figurehead. The government at the time was a coalition of Republicans, supported in the Cortes by communist and socialist parties, under the leadership of centre-left president Manuel Azaña . The Nationalist faction
12610-489: 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
12740-468: The people before the military took over. The prime minister was hesitant. The uprising's timing was fixed at 17 July, at 17:01, agreed to by the leader of the Carlists, Manuel Fal Conde . However, the timing was changed—the men in the Morocco protectorate were to rise up at 05:00 on 18 July and those in Spain proper a day later so that control of Spanish Morocco could be achieved and forces sent back to
12870-570: The political consensus of the transition to democracy and "using the Civil War as an argument for political propaganda", while the Republican Left of Catalonia rejected the law on the basis that it did not go far enough. The main provisions of the law are: Criticism of the law has come from two sides, those who think that the law is not effective enough and those who support the Pact of Forgetting . Doubt has been expressed about how effective
13000-407: The political system to match social reality. Until the 1850s, the economy of Spain was primarily based on agriculture . There was little development of a bourgeois industrial or commercial class. The land-based oligarchy remained powerful; a small number of people held large estates called latifundia as well as all of the important positions in government. The mid-century Carlist Wars , fought by
13130-405: 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
13260-473: The primarily conservative and Catholic areas of Old Castile and León , which fell quickly. They took Cádiz with help from the first troops from Africa. The government retained control of Málaga , Jaén , and Almería . In Madrid, the rebels were hemmed into the Cuartel de la Montaña siege , which fell with considerable bloodshed. Republican leader Casares Quiroga was replaced by José Giral , who ordered
13390-588: The provincial capitals and, following the resignation of Aznar's government, Alfonso XIII fled the country. At this time, the Second Spanish Republic was formed. This republic remained in power until the beginning of the civil war five years later. The revolutionary committee headed by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora became the provisional government, with Alcalá-Zamora himself as president and head of state . The republic had broad support from all segments of society. In May 1931, an incident in which
13520-424: The rebellion and was released from prison in January 1935. In sparking an uprising, the non-anarchist socialists, like the anarchists, manifested their conviction that the existing political order was illegitimate. The Spanish historian Salvador de Madariaga , an Azaña supporter and an exiled vocal opponent of Francisco Franco, wrote a sharp criticism of the left's participation in the revolt: "The uprising of 1934
13650-516: The rebellion. Quick action by either the rebels or anarchist militias was often enough to decide the fate of a town. General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano secured Seville for the rebels, arresting a number of other officers. The rebels failed to take any major cities with the critical exception of the July 1936 military uprising in Seville , which provided a landing point for Franco's African troops, and
13780-613: The right-wing parties won the general election . The causal factors were increased resentment of the incumbent government caused by a controversial decree implementing land reform, by the Casas Viejas incident , and the formation of a right-wing alliance, Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Right-wing Groups (CEDA). Another factor was the recent enfranchisement of women, most of whom voted for centre-right parties. According to Stanley G. Payne and Jesús Palacios Tapias , left Republicans attempted to have Niceto Alcalá Zamora cancel
13910-480: 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
14040-499: The spring. Franco was a key player because of his prestige as a former director of the military academy and as the man who suppressed the Asturian miners' strike of 1934 . He was respected in the Army of Africa, the Army's toughest troops. He wrote a cryptic letter to Casares on 23 June, suggesting the military was disloyal, but could be restrained if he were put in charge. Casares did nothing, failing to arrest or buy off Franco. With
14170-406: The start of the civil war; for comparison, the 1931–33 land reform had granted only 6,000 peasants 45,000 hectares. As many strikes occurred between April and July as had occurred in the entirety of 1931. Workers increasingly demanded less work and more pay. "Social crimes"—refusing to pay for goods and rent—became increasingly common by workers, particularly in Madrid. In some cases, this was done in
14300-409: 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
14430-486: The then fascist-nationalist Falange Española y de las JONS ("Falange") to help achieve their aims. Open violence occurred in the streets of Spanish cities, and militancy continued to increase, reflecting a movement towards radical upheaval, rather than peaceful democratic means as solutions. A small insurrection by anarchists occurred in December 1933 in response to CEDA's victory, in which around 100 people died. After
14560-400: The ultra-conservatism of the monarchy. In 1873, Isabella's replacement, King Amadeo I of the House of Savoy , abdicated due to increasing political pressure, and the short-lived First Spanish Republic was proclaimed. The Republic was marred with political instability and conflicts and was quickly overthrown by a coup d'état by General Arsenio Martínez Campos in December 1874, after which
14690-672: The university at Oviedo. Rebels in the occupied areas proclaimed revolution for the workers and abolished the existing currency. The rebellion was crushed in two weeks by the Spanish Navy and the Spanish Republican Army , the latter using mainly Moorish colonial troops from Spanish Morocco . Azaña was in Barcelona that day, and the Lerroux-CEDA government tried to implicate him. He was arrested and charged with complicity. In fact, Azaña had no connection with
14820-752: The victims on both sides of the Spanish Civil War , gives rights to the victims and the descendants of victims of the Civil War and of the subsequent dictatorship, and formally condemns the repressions of the Franco regime. The conservative Popular Party and the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) both voted against the law, for opposite reasons. For its vote, the Popular Party accused the Socialist Party government of weakening
14950-525: The war. After much of Catalonia was captured in 1938 and 1939, and Madrid cut off from Barcelona, the Republican military position became hopeless. Following the fall without resistance of Barcelona in January 1939, the Francoist regime was recognised by France and the United Kingdom in February 1939. On 5 March 1939, in response to an alleged increasing communist dominance of the Republican government and
15080-567: 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
15210-517: Was called to form a government before the electoral process had ended. He shortly replaced Zamora as president, taking advantage of a constitutional loophole. Convinced that the left was no longer willing to follow the rule of law and that its vision of Spain was under threat, the right abandoned the parliamentary option and began planning to overthrow the republic, rather than to control it. PSOE's left wing socialists started to take action. Julio Álvarez del Vayo talked about "Spain being converted into
15340-402: Was compromised. He had to be convinced to remain by his co-conspirators. However, the kidnapping and murder of Sotelo transformed the "limping conspiracy" into a revolt that could trigger a civil war. The arbitrary use of lethal force by the state and lack of action against the attackers led to public disapproval of the government. No effective punitive, judicial or even investigative action
15470-485: Was hesitant to use the army to shoot or stop rioters or protestors as many of them supported his coalition. On the other hand, he was reluctant to disarm the military as he believed he needed them to stop insurrections from the extreme left. Illegal land occupation became widespread—poor tenant farmers knew the government was disinclined to stop them. By April 1936, nearly 100,000 peasants had appropriated 400,000 hectares of land and perhaps as many as 1 million hectares by
15600-551: 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
15730-542: 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
15860-526: Was particularly acute at the time. Conscription was a controversial policy that was eventually implemented by the government of Spain. As evidenced by the Tragic Week in 1909, resentment and resistance were factors that continued well into the 20th century. Spain was neutral in World War I . Following the war, wide swathes of Spanish society, including the armed forces, united in hopes of removing
15990-494: Was replaced by General Dámaso Berenguer , who was in turn himself replaced by Admiral Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas ; both men continued a policy of rule by decree . There was little support for the monarchy in the major cities. Consequently, King Alfonso XIII of Spain relented to popular pressure and called municipal elections for 12 April 1931. Left-wing entities such as the Socialist and Liberal Republicans won almost all
16120-502: Was retained by the government—however, the whole of the Republican Air Force was very outdated. The war was cast by Republican sympathisers as a struggle between tyranny and freedom, and by Nationalist supporters as communist and anarchist red hordes versus Christian civilisation. Nationalists also claimed they were bringing security and direction to an ungoverned and lawless country. Spanish politics, especially on
16250-619: Was sacked as chief of staff and transferred to command of the Canary Islands . Manuel Goded Llopis was removed as inspector general and made general of the Balearic Islands . Mola was moved from head of the Army of Africa to commander of Pamplona . This latter reassignment, however, allowed Mola to direct the mainland uprising; General José Sanjurjo became the figurehead of the operation and helped reach an agreement with
16380-413: 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
16510-626: Was supported by several conservative groups, including CEDA , monarchists, including both the opposing Alfonsists and the religious conservative Carlists , and the Falange Española de las JONS , a fascist political party. The coup was supported by military units in Morocco , Pamplona , Burgos , Zaragoza , Valladolid , Cádiz , Córdoba , Málaga , and Seville . However, rebelling units in almost all important cities—such as Madrid , Barcelona , Valencia , Bilbao , Murcia , and Almería —did not gain control. Those cities remained in
16640-534: Was taken; Payne points to a possible veto by socialists within the government who shielded the killers drawn from their ranks. The murder of a parliamentary leader by state police was unprecedented, and the belief the state had ceased to be neutral and effective encouraged important sectors of the right to join the rebellion. Franco changed his mind on rebellion and dispatched a message to Mola to display his firm commitment. The Socialists and Communists, led by Indalecio Prieto , demanded that arms be distributed to
16770-511: Was uneven, with the Republicans retaining a numerical advantage, but with the Navy's top commanders and two of the most modern ships, heavy cruisers Canarias —captured at the Ferrol shipyard—and Baleares , in Nationalist control. The Spanish Republican Navy suffered from the same problems as the army—many officers had defected or been killed after trying to do so. Two-thirds of air capability
16900-673: Was working on the draft of a new historical memory law that would include a DNA database and an official list of Civil War victims. This new law, enacted in 2022, would come to be known as the Democratic Memory Law . The Democratic Memory Law included provisions for the following: In February 2021, the last statue of Francisco Franco in Spain was removed in Melilla . Spanish Civil War Nationalist victory [REDACTED] Republicans [REDACTED] Nationalists 100,000–200,000 civilians killed inside
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