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35-591: Spain's presence in the area can be traced to a settlement called Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña , founded in 1476. After attacks by the Berbers , the Spanish decided to focus on colonising other areas of North Africa and abandoned the region. In the mid-19th century, when the European powers looked again to Africa for resources, Spain suddenly mooted an interest in its lost late medieval fortress in order to stake

70-544: A claim to the southern part of Morocco. This served as a pretext for a short war with Morocco in 1859. The territory and its main town of Sidi Ifni were ceded to Spain by the Sultanate of Morocco on 26 April 1860, but there was little interest in this colonial acquisition until 1934, when the Governor-General of Spanish Sahara took up residence. The airport had become a crucial stopover for flights between

105-430: A few years (until Spain finally ceded the territory to Morocco), then fell into disrepair. The cables have disappeared, but the end stations and pylons are still visible. Influenced by the cold Canary Current , Sidi Ifni has a hot desert climate ( Köppen BWh ) with mild to warm weather all year round, and very slight, erratic rainfall. This rain falls only during the winter months from November to April, and generally

140-481: A frustrated plan by the Moroccan irregular forces to eliminate the Spanish officers, the initial minor incidents and an attack, Sidi Ifni was not directly affected by the military events. These were developed in the interior of the territory. On the Spanish side, it was finally decided to establish a defensive perimeter that is denser and more difficult to infiltrate and, furthermore, easier to sustain and supply, near

175-403: A mistake. Ifni (Sidi Ifni) is about 240 km from Akhfennir and about 270 km from Khenifiss National Park(distance by air), even if one meant distance by car it'd still only be about 330 km distance.) The Moroccan sultan accepted the identification in 1883, even if the border delimitation did not take place at the time and the effective Spanish occupation did not take place until 1934. Located on

210-594: A trading and fishing post with a fortress. It was located close to a mouth bar (hence its name) across Lanzarote . The importance of the settlement was derived from its position in the trans-Saharan slave trade , and captives were shipped to sugar plantations on the Canary Islands. The Saadi dynasty raided the place and the Spanish eventually left Santa Cruz, being completely abandoned by 1524. The exact location of what used to be Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña

245-590: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sidi Ifni Sidi Ifni ( Berber : Ifni , ⵉⴼⵏⵉ, Arabic : سيدي إفني ) is a city located on the west coast of Morocco , on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, with a population of 20,051 people. The economic base of the city is fishing. It is located in Guelmim-Oued Noun region and Sidi Ifni Province . Its inhabitants are the Shilha from

280-624: Is therefore possible to collect the complete series. 29°22′N 10°11′W  /  29.367°N 10.183°W  / 29.367; -10.183 Santa Cruz de la Mar Peque%C3%B1a Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña (literally Holy Cross of the Little Sea ) was a 15th century Spanish settlement close to Akhfennir , in the Tarfaya Province , in Morocco . Founded by the Canary Islands lord Diego de Herrera in 1478 as

315-469: The Ait Baamrane ethnic group. In 2000, an important fishing port was completed, which serves as a base for fish exports. The Ait Baamran ethnic group have long inhabited the small town and the surrounding region. The people worked in husbandry and traded with Europeans and northern Morocco, being intermediaries in the trans-Saharan trade. In 1476, an enclave in the region of present-day Sidi Ifni

350-551: The Canalejas gunboat towards Ifni. On that date, a three-engine unit dropped a letter from Capaz in the Arbaa de Mesti souk, announcing the agreements adopted and the next Spanish landing. The event was related thus by Francisco Hernández-Pacheco, who was part of the scientific expedition that traveled over the territory of Ifni shortly after: Capaz landed on the beach of Sidi Ifni on April 6, accompanied only by Lieutenant Lorenzi and

385-693: The Moroccan Army of Liberation attacked the territory between November 1957 and July 1958. The attacks began on November 23, 1957, beginning the War of Ifni . However, the city was supplied by sea and air and protected by outposts. Initially, a good part of the military personnel were indigenous, especially those included in the Ifni Group of Shooters and in the Territorial Police. They were disarmed, demobilized, and promptly replaced. Except for

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420-674: The El Mesti Kabyle of the Ait-Baamarani Berber tribe, and of which there are currently no remnants. Ifni's occupation took place after satisfactory contacts between Colonel Capaz and representatives of the population of the territory, with conversations carried out in Cape Juby on March the 27th of 1934. Then, on April 4, after receiving authorization from the Spanish Government, said colonel embarked on

455-555: The Ifni territory . Together with Amezdog, the Spanish presence was formalized in a ceremony attended by notable Baamaranis and Colonel Osvaldo Capaz. In just three years it went from an occasional tent camp, and some barracks, to the construction of six hundred houses or buildings. Indeed, the population experienced spectacular growth in just a few years. By 1940 the urban structure was already well advanced in its streets, squares and main buildings. However, for some years communication with

490-654: The Koranic education of Muslim schoolchildren. The prohibition of any kind of Christian religious proselytism was a perfectly known and respected principle. On June 30, 1969, the Spanish government formally ceded what it kept from Ifni to Morocco, by virtue of the Retrocession Treaty signed in Fez on January 4 and ratified 22 April 1969, thus making the retrocession effective. After that, a difficult process of adaptation began, aggravated by an acute economic crisis and

525-607: The Moroccan Human Rights organisation OMDH. On 7 June the Qatar -owned TV chain Al Jazeera stated that eight to ten people had been killed during the police intervention. Amnesty International in 2009 reported "They [the Moroccan police] also conducted unauthorized raids on homes, confiscated property, verbally and sexually harassed people, and carried out arbitrary arrests and detentions." The relations between

560-555: The Moroccan government and Al Jazeera seriously deteriorated and in July, Brahim Sbaalil, a spokesperson for the Islamist-leaning Centre Marocain des Droits Humain (CMDH) that had echoed the claims, was condemned to six months in prison for "spreading false accusations". To better utilise its ocean-shipping potential, Spanish authorities in the 1960s conceived and installed a unique ship-offloading system in

595-528: The city of Sidi Ifni (between 8 and 10 km from the city center, according to the zone) leaving most of arid territory that would have been much more costly to defend without appreciable advantage. Those defensive positions, quite numerous, and the dirt tracks that connect them, are still perfectly visible. After the Ifni War, most of the territory became part of Morocco by the Treaty of Angra de Cintra . In 1958,

630-459: The colony was declared a Spanish overseas province in order to forestall United Nations criticism of continued colonisation. A fundamental aspect of Spanish political management in the area was the recognition and respect for the customs and traditions of the Baamarani population, as well as their religious beliefs. For example, Spain provided the means for the construction of mosques and for

665-482: The defensive line at Sidi Ifni was settled, the city remained under Spanish rule as a province of Spain, comparable to the Spanish enclave cities, Ceuta and Melilla , on the northern coast of Morocco. In 1969, under international pressure, Spain relinquished Sidi Ifni to Morocco. In June 2008 there were violent protests in Sidi Ifni. Media reports first cited eight protesters killed by police force, but this claim

700-540: The existence of the fortress is widely documented, historians could not determine its exact location along the coast between Agadir and Tarfaya . In 1860, following the Spanish-Moroccan War , Morocco ceded Sidi Ifni and the territory of Ifni to Spain as a part of the Treaty of Tangiers . During the period often termed the "Scramble for Africa", in 1884 Spain acquired what is now Western Sahara . Spain occupied Sidi Ifni and Western Sahara jointly, although

735-470: The imposition of the French-speaking administration. Spain started issuing postage stamps to be used in Ifni in 1941, initially overprinting Spanish stamps with "TERRITORIO DE IFNI", then issuing new designs in 1943. Issues followed at the rate of about ten per year with the last on 23 November 1968. Ifni stamps are of particular interest for collectors, as there cannot be any new issues, and it

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770-576: The latter was known at the time as Spanish Sahara , Río de Oro or Saguia el-Hamra . Until 1952, the Ifni region had the status of a protectorate . In that year, the region became part of Spanish West Africa , an entity that combined the colonies of Spanish Sahara and Cape Juby, with its capital located in Villa Bens; now called Tarfaya and currently in Morocco. When Morocco obtained its independence from France, and then Spain, in 1956, it claimed

805-694: The mainland and the Canary Islands , and in 1938 a commercial route was established by airline Iberia linking Seville , Larache , Sidi Ifni , Cape Juby and Gando in the Canaries . The origin of Ifni must be dated to 1934, after Colonel Osvaldo Capaz took possession of the area, on behalf of the Government of the Second Spanish Republic . At that time, there was only a small construction, an aduar called Amezdog , belonging to

840-424: The metropolis was difficult. The city did not stop growing in all subsequent years. Even just three short years before the 1969 retrocession to Morocco, the most considerable urban expansion was concluded, on the other side of the Ifni river, in the neighborhood popularly known as "Barrio Agulla" or, more commonly, "Colominas" (name of the Spanish construction company of the neighborhood). After Moroccan independence,

875-706: The north bank of the Naila lagoon in the Khenifiss National Park . The only remains of the 15th century settlement are the foundations of an 8-meter side square fortified tower of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña. In 2011 local archaeologists excavated the Sahara desert's sands in order to identify the tower, which is currently under the sand and called Foum Agoutir. 28°3′N 12°13′W  /  28.050°N 12.217°W  / 28.050; -12.217 This Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra location article

910-439: The place (of uncertain location) to Spain in the 1860 Treaty of Wad Ras . In the wake of the visit of a Spanish delegation to Fez in 1877, a joint Hispano-Moroccan committee was created in order to determine the location of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña. This committee eventually misidentified Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña with Ifni , actually located about 480 kilometers north of the real fortress. (Note: 480 km distance must be

945-643: The purpose of establishing a defensive line limited to Sidi Ifni and its surroundings, while the Moroccan Liberation Army took control of the abandoned territory. The war was never formally declared nor finished, but on 1 April 1958, Spain and Morocco signed the Agreements of Angra de Cintra , by which Cape Juby was ceded to Morocco in June 1958. The lost territories of Ifni region were never regained by Spain, but were integrated into Morocco. Once

980-421: The shallow waters of the Sidi Ifni port. Since the waters were too shallow to allow ships to reach shore, a concrete bastion was built at 550 metres offshore. It held a derrick and crane. Cargo and personnel were lifted from a ship, then moved to another station near the cliffs east of town, using self-propelled carts slung from large steel cables. The cables were supported by several pylons. This system operated for

1015-469: The signalman from Canalejas, Fernando Gómez Flórez. To meet the Spanish boat, a row-boat with local people left the beach, to which Capaz and his crew transferred, all of them landing safely on the beach. Capaz addressed a group of indigenous people who were waiting for him, from which some notable stood out, and who offered the Colonel a bowl of sour milk as a welcome sign. Later, on horseback, he ascended to

1050-767: The territory several times. The first was in August 1957, by stating that the French-Spanish treaty from 1912 had been abrogated. By late 1957 serious incidents had occurred at the border, starting the Ifni War , where Ifni garrisons were attacked by irregular troops led by Moroccan nationalists of the Istiqlal party, supported tacitly by the king. They called themselves the Moroccan Liberation Army . The Spanish Army retreated from most territory with

1085-520: The top of the coastal area and in the immediate hamlet of Amedog (sic) he ate. During the meal some groups of indigenous and notable people arrived, to whom Capaz explained simply and clearly the purposes and intentions of Spain. The locals left after the meal, convening to hold meetings to discuss the matter. The following morning they informed Colonel Capaz of Ifni's agreement to join Spain. Francisco Hernández-Pacheco, Physiographic and geological features of

Ifni - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-795: Was forgotten. After the Treaty Between France and Spain Regarding Morocco (1912), in 1916 the Spanish gained control of the Cape Juby Strip which included the place. It was renamed officially Puerto Cansado, as that was the name given by the Canarian fishermen. On the other hand, in the mid-nineteenth century, after the Hispano-Moroccan War (1859–1860), the Sultanate of Morocco agreed to hand

1155-421: Was later not substantiated. On 30 May, dozens of unemployed workers had begun blocking the port to protest against not having been employed there. Unloading of fish was hindered. The following day, barriers were erected around the port. Several mediation efforts with local officials gave no result. On 6 June, around 500–600 people protested in the town and, moved by rumours that a police force from Tiznit or Agadir

1190-475: Was occupied by forces from the Spanish peninsula, which named its settlement there Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña . It remained in Spanish hands until 1524 when it was captured by forces of the Saadi Sultanate . Historically, Sidi Ifni is claimed to be the location of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña, which had been long pursued by Spain, who built a small coastal fortress there in the 15th century. Although

1225-726: Was to arrive, in the early hours of 7 June the protesters blocked several entrances to the town. A local official was severely harassed by the protesters. At 06:30 a police force composed of some 8,000 agents entered the city, dispersed the protesters employing rubber bullets and reopened the port. Many protesters fled to the surrounding mountains. The police then entered houses in the neighbourhoods of Boulaalame and Lalla Meryem and started to arrest people violently. Abuse, harassment and theft took place. Around 182 people were detained and all but 10 were freed later that day. Twelve cases of torture leading to up to 30 days of temporal incapacity and around 35 cases of aggression or harassment were proven by

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