martes, 11 de agosto de 2026

SPAIN'S NORTH AFRICAN TERRITORIES — 2026 Ceuta, Melilla, Vélez de la Gomera, Alhucemas, Chafarinas and Perejil: history, sovereignty and geopolitics across the Western Mediterranean

SPAIN'S NORTH AFRICAN TERRITORIES — 2026

Ceuta, Melilla, Vélez de la Gomera, Alhucemas, Chafarinas and Perejil: history, sovereignty and geopolitics across the Western Mediterranean

By DrRamonReyesMD ⚕️
EMS Solutions International — 2026

ABSTRACT

Spain retains a remarkable territorial presence on and immediately off the North African coast. It includes the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, together with several much smaller possessions traditionally known as the plazas de soberanía: the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, Alhucemas Islands and Chafarinas Islands.

Perejil Island requires separate treatment because its sovereignty remains disputed.

These territories were not acquired during a single colonial expansion. Their histories span more than four centuries, and several had been under Iberian control for centuries before the establishment of the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco in 1912.

Under contemporary Spanish constitutional law, Ceuta and Melilla are integral parts of Spain and have possessed their own Statutes of Autonomy since 1995.

1. THE MAP REQUIRES CORRECTION

The infographic is useful, but some dates are misleading.

A more accurate chronology is:

Melilla — 1497

Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera — 1508 first capture; 1564 permanent recovery

Ceuta — Portuguese from 1415; Iberian Union from 1580; remained with the Spanish monarchy after 1640; Portuguese recognition in 1668

Alhucemas — 1673

Chafarinas — 1848

Perejil — historically connected with Ceuta, but currently disputed

Most importantly:

ALHUCEMAS SHOULD NOT BE DATED TO 1560.

Spanish geographical sources date continuous Spanish sovereignty there to 1673.

2. MELILLA — 1497

Melilla came under Castilian control in 1497, during the period of Iberian expansion along the North African coast following the conquest of Granada.

Its Spanish history therefore predates the twentieth-century Protectorate by more than four centuries.

Today Melilla is an Autonomous City of Spain.

Its 1995 Statute explicitly describes Melilla as an integral part of the Spanish nation.

3. CEUTA — NOT SIMPLY 1580

Ceuta's history is substantially more complicated.

Portugal captured Ceuta in:

1415.

When Philip II became king of Portugal in:

1580,

Ceuta entered the Iberian Union under the same monarch as the Spanish kingdoms.

Portugal restored its independence in:

1640.

Ceuta, however, remained loyal to the Spanish Habsburg monarchy.

Portugal formally recognized the new situation in:

1668.

Consequently, describing Ceuta simply as “Spanish since 1580” conceals an important distinction between the Portuguese period, Iberian Union and subsequent incorporation into Spain.

4. VÉLEZ DE LA GOMERA — 1508 AND 1564

Spain first captured the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera in:

1508.

It was lost in:

1522.

Spain recovered it permanently in:

1564.

A 2025 historical study specifically examines this sequence as the conquest, loss and second Spanish occupation between 1508 and 1564.

The territory has remained under Spanish control since the latter date.

5. ALHUCEMAS — 1673

The Alhucemas Islands consist of:

Peñón de Alhucemas;
Isla de Tierra;
Isla de Mar.

Spanish sovereignty dates from:

1673.

This is therefore the principal chronological error in the original infographic.

6. CHAFARINAS — 1848

Spain occupied the Chafarinas Islands in:

1848.

The archipelago consists of Congreso, Isabel II and Rey Francisco islands.

A Spanish military presence remains today, and the Spanish Navy periodically provides water, fuel and other logistical supplies to these small North African positions.

7. PEREJIL — THE EXCEPTION

Perejil cannot accurately be presented in exactly the same category.

Its historical relationship is closely associated with Ceuta, but sovereignty is disputed between Spain and Morocco.

In July 2002 Moroccan personnel occupied the island.

Spain subsequently conducted:

OPERATION ROMEO-SIERRA.

Spanish forces retook the island without a major armed engagement, after which diplomatic intervention helped restore the previous status quo.

The island therefore deserves its own category in any academically rigorous map.

8. THE PLAZAS DE SOBERANÍA

The traditional Spanish expression plazas de soberanía refers to Spain's small territories along the North African Mediterranean coast.

Spanish Defence documentation continues to describe these positions as national sovereignty territories in North Africa, maintaining permanent Army detachments and regular naval logistical support.

9. GIBRALTAR: THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE STRAIT

Gibraltar provides the map with a fascinating geopolitical counterpoint.

Anglo-Dutch forces captured it in:

1704.

Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain under the:

TREATY OF UTRECHT — 1713.

Today it is administered by the United Kingdom.

The United Nations has included Gibraltar on its list of Non-Self-Governing Territories since 1946, with the United Kingdom identified as the administering power.

Spain nevertheless maintains its sovereignty claim.

10. NOT REMNANTS OF THE SPANISH PROTECTORATE

This distinction is essential.

The Spanish Protectorate in Morocco began in:

1912.

Yet:

Melilla — 1497

Vélez — 1564 continuously

Ceuta — seventeenth-century definitive Spanish incorporation

Alhucemas — 1673

Chafarinas — 1848

All therefore predate the Protectorate.

It is historically incorrect to describe them simply as territories left over from Spain's twentieth-century Moroccan Protectorate.

11. STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

Their importance derives from the geography of:

STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR + ALBORAN SEA + WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN.

This area links:

Atlantic Ocean ↔ Mediterranean Sea

and:

Europe ↔ Africa.

Historically, the territories served military, naval and commercial purposes.

Today the strategic equation also includes:

migration, maritime security, organized crime, counterterrorism, border management, fisheries, environmental protection, EU-Morocco relations and military logistics.

12. THE LOGISTICS BEHIND THE MAP

Maintaining tiny isolated territories requires a surprisingly substantial logistical chain.

Spanish Navy operations continue to deliver:

water + fuel + equipment + supplies

to the smaller positions.

During one documented 2024 campaign, the auxiliary vessel Mar Caribe transported more than 1,562 tonnes of water, over 91,000 litres of fuel and substantial quantities of military equipment.

These are therefore not merely historical dots on a map.

They remain actively administered positions.

FINAL CONCLUSION

Spain's North African geography cannot be accurately understood through a single word such as “colonial,” nor through a collection of dates without context.

It is the product of Portuguese expansion, Castilian expansion, dynastic union, Mediterranean warfare, early-modern geopolitics and centuries of subsequent administration.

The corrected historical sequence is:

MELILLA — 1497

VÉLEZ DE LA GOMERA — 1508 / 1564

CEUTA — 1415 Portuguese / 1580 Iberian Union / 1668 definitive Portuguese recognition

ALHUCEMAS — 1673

CHAFARINAS — 1848

PEREJIL — disputed / special status

In 2026, Spain continues to administer Ceuta, Melilla and the smaller plazas de soberanía, while Morocco contests Spanish sovereignty over these North African territories.

Across the Strait, Gibraltar remains administered by the United Kingdom and remains on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

The resulting map is therefore not merely a historical curiosity.

IT IS THE GEOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF MORE THAN FIVE CENTURIES OF COMPETITION FOR THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN.

History explains how these territories came to be where they are.

Law explains their current administrative status.

Geopolitics explains why they still matter in 2026.