Historical facts for the uninformed about Spain and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla

Yesterday's migratory assault from Morocco against Ceuta has been accompanied by certain messages on social media.

Ceuta, a Moroccan migratory invasion that has been encouraged by Pedro Sánchez
Pedro Sánchez's betrayal of Spain's allies and its effects on Ceuta and Melilla

These messages essentially argue that if Spain has two cities in Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, it is because they were seized from Morocco and should be returned. As is often the case in disinformation campaigns on social media, this is a claim based on a falsehood.

To begin, it should be noted that the current state known as the Kingdom of Morocco has existed as an independent country since 1956, making it a very young nation by European standards. To put this in perspective, Spain as a unified nation has existed since 1475, the year in which Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon signed the Concord of Segovia, uniting their crowns. Unification was completed in 1492 with the incorporation of the Kingdom of Granada and in 1513 with the incorporation of the Kingdom of Navarre. The unification was confirmed when all these crowns were united during the reign of Charles I in 1516.

The history of the two Spanish cities in North Africa predates the Kingdom of Morocco. Ceuta became part of Portugal in 1415, following a battle fought on August 21 of that year between the Portuguese and the Marinids, a people who inhabited what is now northern Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. In 1580, Ceuta was incorporated into the Spanish Monarchy after the union of Spain and Portugal under a single monarch, King Philip II of Spain. In 1640, when Spain and Portugal separated, the city of Ceuta chose to remain Spanish. The memory of its Portuguese past is preserved in its coat of arms, which is almost identical to that of Portugal, and in its flag, with a design typical of Portuguese city flags.

Melilla has been part of Spain since 1497. The city had been depopulated after the battles between the kings of Fez and Tlemcen (remember that Morocco did not yet exist). To give you an idea, Melilla has been part of Spain since before countries as old as Sweden (1523), the Netherlands (1581), the United Kingdom (1707), the United States (1776), Greece (1821), Belgium (1830), Romania (1859), Italy (1861), and Germany (1871) even existed.

Some argue that Ceuta and Melilla should not be part of Spain because they are in North Africa. This is a rather absurd idea. The fact that Spain is a European country does not mean that all of its territory has to be located on the European continent. There are other countries with territories on more than one continent, such as Chile, Egypt, the United States, France, Russia, and Turkey. Chile owns Easter Island, which is part of Oceania. Egypt has the Sinai Peninsula, which is in Asia. The United States has Hawaii and other islands in Oceania. France has French Guiana, which is in the Americas and is part of the European Union. Russia has Siberia and other territories in Asia. Turkey has Eastern Thrace, which is on the European continent.

It should be noted that the United Nations (UN) has never called for the decolonization of Ceuta and Melilla, as this international body considers both cities to be under Spanish sovereignty and does not consider them colonies. In 1975, Morocco attempted to have the UN consider Ceuta and Melilla colonies, with the aim of seizing them from Spain, but its request was rejected. The territory that is considered by the UN as a colony is Western Sahara, illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975 and which before that date was a Spanish province, officially called "Sahara" and commonly known as Spanish Sahara.