Rabat – Spanish Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, arrived in the Spanish enclave of Melilla today amid the rising tension over the Moroccan President of the House of Councillors’ recent comments that the two Spanish enclaves in North Africa are occupied by Spain and should be returned to Morocco through dialogue.
While Spain has not clearly stated the purpose of Grande-Marlaska’s visit, the Spanish minister is expected to hold a meeting with the Deputy of the Central Government in Melilla, Sabrina Moh, and with heads of the local police force and border control units.
Although relations between Madrid and Rabat have been on fist-bumping terms lately, the visit comes amid resurging disagreements over the unsettled, simmering issue of the status of Ceuta and Melilla.
Earlier this month, Naam Miyara, the president of Morocco’s House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Moroccan parliament, declared that the Spanish enclaves are occupied territories that should be returned to Morocco.
“A day will come when Morocco will regain the occupied cities of Ceuta and Melilla, not with weapons, but through dialogue and serious negotiations with neighboring Spain,” Miyara said.
The statement triggered tensions between political officials on both sides, with Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles responding to Miyara’s statement a few days later by emphatically saying that the Spanishness of Ceuta and Melilla is “non-negotiable.”
“Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish like Zamora or Valencia, and there is nothing else that can be discussed on this subject,” the Spanish defense minister said.
“I visited Ceuta and Melilla recently and I feel that I am from both cities, and they are very Spanish,” she added, underscoring that “the position of the Spanish government is clear and strong, and there is no possibility to discuss this matter.”
The Ceuta and Melilla saga
Ceuta and Melilla were historically part of Morocco prior to Spanish colonization. Melilla fell under Spanish rule in 1497 and Ceuta in 1580 following the death of King Sebastian in 1578. After Morocco claimed independence after the end of World War II, Spain maintained its claim on the two enclaves and refused to hand them back to Morocco.
The two cities are considered the last African territories under the direct control of a European country.
As Moroccan political analyst Samir Bennis argued in a 2016 article, Morocco has in recent years contrasted the issues of Gibraltar and enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla to highlight Madrid’s double standards and question the coherence and historical base Spain’s claims on the two enclaves in North Africa.
“Morocco has always highlighted the parallel between the two issues, arguing that Spain cannot claim to regain its sovereignty over Gibraltar while refusing the legitimate right of Morocco to regain its sovereignty over the two enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla,” Bennis wrote.
Over the years, meanwhile, politicians and intellectuals have called on the Spanish government to return the two cities to Morocco, with Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun describing Spain’s rule over the two cities as a form of “modern-day occupation.”
“Ceuta has always been Moroccan land,” the writer said during an interview in May 2021, adding that it is “abnormal” for a European former colonizing power to occupy a country in this day and age.
Read also: How Spain Has Managed to Maintain its Sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla
Some Spanish politicians have also questioned the official Spanish narrative on the status of Ceuta and Melilla. In September last year, Former Spanish Minister of Housing Maria Antonia Trujillo said that claiming Spain’s supposed historical and “non-negotiable” sovereignty over the two cities constitutes an “affront to Morocco’s territorial integrity.”
Trujillo explained that the cities represent “vestiges of the past” that interfere with today’s Moroccan-Spanish relations.
“The Moroccan claim [over Ceuta and Melilla] is fully justified, as it is instilled in its national ideology and cannot be abandoned,” she said, calling on Madrid and Rabat to engage in dialogue to resolve the issue.
The Spanish politician’s statement triggered backlash in Spain, with several Spanish politicians contesting her stance, arguing that the two enclaves have long-standing “Spanishness.”
Spokesperson of Trujillo’s socialist party in Spain’s Congress, Patxi Lopez, took issue with her comments, saying that the party remains committed to upholding the “Spanishness” of both cities.
