Plazas de soberanía - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The plazas de soberanía (ˈplaθaz ðe soβeɾaˈni.a) or sovereign territories, referred to in English as Spanish North Africa or simply Spanish Africa, are the current Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

territories in continental North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

bordering Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, except the autonomous cities of Ceuta

Ceuta

Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...

and Melilla

Melilla

Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...

.

After the Reconquista

Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...

, forces of the Spanish

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

and Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

Kingdoms conquered and maintained numerous posts in North Africa

North Africa

for trade and as a defence against piracy

Barbary corsairs

The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber...

. Many of them, such as Oran

Oran

Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...

, have been lost, and nowadays, with an approximate population of 145,000 people (with Ceuta and Melilla), only the Islas Chafarinas

Islas Chafarinas

The Chafarinas Islands , also spelled Zafarin, Djaferin, Zafarani, is a Spanish archipelago. A group of three small islets located in the Alboran Sea off the coast of Morocco with an aggregate area of 0.525 km², 45 km to the east of Melilla and 3.3 km off the Moroccan town of Ra'su l-Ma'...

, the Peñón de Alhucemas

Peñón de Alhucemas

Peñón de Alhucemas , or "Lavender Rock", is one of the Spanish plazas de soberanía just off the Moroccan coast in the Alboran Sea. It is also one of several Peñones, or rock-fortresses, on the coast of Northern Africa....

and the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera

Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera

Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera , in ancient times Badis or Bades, is a Spanish rock in North Africa off the Moroccan coast . It is part of several Peñones, or rock-fortresses on the coast of Northern Africa. Vélez de la Gomera is administered from Melilla...

are still part of Spain

Spain

Physical geography

There are historically three sovereign territories: the Islas Chafarinas

Islas Chafarinas

, Peñón de Alhucemas

Peñón de Alhucemas

, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera

Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera

.

Apart from those, Isla Perejil

Isla Perejil

For the armed conflict, see Perejil Island crisisThe Perejil Island is a small, uninhabited rocky islet located in the South shore of the Strait of Gibraltar very close to Morocco. Its sovereignty is disputed between Spain and Morocco...

, a small uninhabited islet close to Ceuta

Ceuta

that was the subject of a confrontation with Morocco in 2002, has been lately defined as an extra sovereign territory. It is not a sovereign territory in itself but, rather, no-man's land. The Isla de Alborán

Isla de Alborán

The Isla de Alborán is a small islet in the Alborán Sea, part of the western Mediterranean, about 50 km north of the Moroccan coast and 90 km south of the province of Almería, Spain. A Spanish possession since 1540, it was taken from the Tunisian pirate Al Borani in the Battle of Alborán. It is...

, another small island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

in the western Mediterranean, about 50 kilometres from the Moroccan coast and 90 kilometres from Spain

Spain

, is attached to the municipality

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

of Almería

Almería

Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...

Political geography

The sovereign territories are tiny islets or peninsulas on the coast of Morocco which have no civilian population. They are guarded by military garrisons and administered directly by the Spanish government

Spanish Government

Spain is a constitutional monarchy whose government is defined by the Constitution of Spain. This was approved by a general referendum of the people of Spain in 1978...

. As part of Spain

Spain

, they are also part of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, and their currency is the euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

History

In 1481 the Papal bull

Papal bull

A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

Æterni regis
Aeterni regis
The Papal Bull Aeterni regis was issued on 21 June 1481 by Pope Sixtus IV, simply confirmed the substance of the Treaty of Alcáçovas, thereby reiterating that treaty's confirmation of Castile in its possession of the Canary Islands and its granting of all further acquisitions made by Christian...

had granted all land south of the Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

to Portugal. Only this archipelago and the possessions of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña

Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña

Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña was a Spanish settlement in the Western coast of Africa, across from the Canary Islands, founded in 1476 as a trading post with a fortress...

(1476–1524), Melilla

Melilla

Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...

(conquered

Conquest of Melilla

The Conquest of Melilla occurred in September 1497, when a Spanish fleet seized the North African enclave of Melilla.Plans for the conquest occurred as soon as the Fall of Granada in 1492. Spanish captains Lezcano and Lorenzo Zafra visited the coast of Northern Africa to identify possible locations...

by Pedro de Estopiñán in 1497), Villa Cisneros (founded in 1502 in current Western Sahara

Western Sahara

Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...

), Mazalquivir (1505), Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera

Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera

(1508), Oran

Oran

(1509–1790), Algiers

Algiers

' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...

(1510–29), Bugia

Bugia

Bugia is either:*A Spanish and Italian name of the presently Algerian port city of Bejaia*The Italian word for a candle, especially used as the name for an additional candle carried by a server standing beside a bishop at some Christian liturgical celebrations carried. It is counted among the...

(1510–54), Tripoli (1511–51), Tunis

Tunis

Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....

(1535–69) and Ceuta

Ceuta

(ceded by Portugal in 1668) remained as Spanish territory in Africa.

In 1848, Spanish troops conquered the Islas Chafarinas

Islas Chafarinas

.

When Spain relinquished its protectorate over the North of Morocco, Spanish Morocco

Spanish Morocco

The Spanish protectorate of Morocco was the area of Morocco under colonial rule by the Spanish Empire, established by the Treaty of Fez in 1912 and ending in 1956, when both France and Spain recognized Moroccan independence.-Territorial borders:...

, and recognized Morocco's independence in 1956, it did not give up the sovereign territories, since Spain had held them since before the establishment of its protectorate.

On July 11, 2002, Morocco stationed six navy cadets on Isla Perejil

Isla Perejil

to tackle illegal immigration which was at the time a source of complaint by Spain. The Spanish Armed Forces

Spanish Armed Forces

The Spanish Armed Forces are the military forces of the Kingdom of Spain. The Spanish Armed Forces are a modern military force charged with defending the Kingdom's integrity and sovereignty...

responded by launching a military operation code-named Operation Romeo-Sierra. The attack was carried out by Spanish commandos of Grupo de Operaciones Especiales. The Spanish Navy

Spanish Navy

The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...

and Spanish Air Force

Spanish Air Force

-The early stages:Hot air balloons had been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with the help of Alfredo Kindelán, Leonardo Torres y Quevedo directed the construction of the first Spanish dirigible in the Army Military Aerostatics Service, created in 1896 and located...

provided support, the six Moroccan navy cadets did not offer any resistance and were captured and evicted from the island, which has since been evacuated by both countries.

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