Spanish Morocco
by Marc Van Daele
Following its independence, Morocco was forced to rebuild and create a new
singular monetary zone. On the evening of April 30, 1957, the last British
postal service closed its doors in Tangier. The German postal service had been
closed on August 4, 1914 in Tangier as well as in the French protectorate zone
and in the Spanish zone on June 12, 1919.
Let us go over the different parts
of the Kingdom of Morocco that were under Spanish control: the Northern Zone,
Southern Zone, Ifni and Western Sahara. One should also mention Tangier and de
Ceuta and Melilla.
After the Anglo-French treaty on April 8, 1904, the
British government disengaged itself from Morocco in stark contrast to France
and Spain. Following pressure from the Germans and the Algesiras Conference, the
Algesiras Agreement was signed on April 7, 1906, guaranteeing Morocco
independence from the European powers. The northern border between Morocco and
Algeria to Teniet El Sassi dates from March 18, 1845. After an agreement with
Germany, that brought compensation to the French Congo, France established its
protectorate in Morocco on March 30, 1912.
The Northern Zone of Spanish Morocco
On November 27, 1912, Spain was allowed a protectorate in the Northern Zone
of Spanish Morocco by France and the Cherifien Empire. The Sultan of Morocco
possessed sovereignty in the Northern Zone of Spanish Morocco. Under Spanish
protectorate, the Cherifien sovereign was represented in the Northern Zone by a
Khalifa. France would leave Morocco on March 2, 1956. Spain abandoned its
protectorate in the Northern Zone on April 7, 1956, but it was not until
February 15, 1958 that the peseta was discontinued in the former northern
Spanish Zone and that administration and customs were reestablished between the
Northern Zone and the former French Morocco.
On September 17, 1497, Don
Pedro de Estopinan took possession of Melilla. Ceuta was in Portuguese hands
until the revolt of 1640 against the union of with Spain that dated from 1580.
It is important to add Penon de Velez de la Gomera, Villa Sanjurjo and the
Chafarina Islands. Ceuta was then part of the Spanish province of Cadiz and
Melilla of the Spanish province of Malaga.
The Spanish protectorate of the Southern Zone
The Protectorate of the southern Spanish Zone was formerly called the
territory of Cap Juby (Cabo Jubi) or more recently Tarfaya, under the
jurisdiction of the zone of influence accorded to Spain by the Franco-Spanish
agreement of October 2, 1904. Moreover, the Franco-Spanish convention of
November 27, 1912 clearly set up the border between Sequiet El Hamra ( in the
north of the Spanish Rio de Oro) and the Spanish Southern Zone of Morocco. By
the latter convention, the Southern Zone of the Spanish protectorate thereby
extended from latitude 27'40' Northern to Wadi Draa to the South.
The Sultan
of Morocco remained in control of the Southern Zone of the Protectorate. This
zone remained very isolated in comparison to the Cherifien Empire.
Spain
would not abandon its protectorate in the Southern Zone of the Protectorate
until 1958. On April 10, 1958, Mohammed V officially announced the repossession
of the Southern Zone by Morocco.
Ifni:
The territory of Ifni was ceded to Spain under complete sovereignty in 1860. It was not occupied by Spain before April 6, 1934, being after the end of the military pacification of the region by France. In 1935, France gained from the situation by obtaining a reduction in the surface of the territory of Ifni by a simplification in the drawing of borders. In 1953, the territory of Ifni counted close to 35,000 inhabitants for a surface of 741 square miles. Spain gave Ifni to Morocco on June 30, 1969.
The International Zone of Tangier
From the 19th century, accredited diplomats close to the Cherifien Empire
selected Tangier as their place of residence. This choice was made in part
because of its geographical position, climate and by the regular movements of
the Sultan's court that were changed frequently. Around 1840, the Sultan of
Morocco authorized to undertake the proper steps to follow the cleanliness and
health policies of the city. In 1879, one of the Sultan's Dahirs drew up a
Sanitary Counsel composed of resident diplomats in the Tangier. In 1893, he
authorized a Commission of Municipal Transport created before by the resident
diplomats in Tangier. The Convention of Algesiras bolstered this situation and,
moreover, the system of Surrenders was already applied in Tangier. The systems
of Surrenders sprung out of an Anglo-Moroccan agreement in 1856 and the
Convention of Madrid in 1880 reached out to all the powers.
The Statute of
the International Zone of Tangier was signed in Paris on December 18, 1923. The
sovereignty of Tangier remained in the Sultan's power.
The administration
was in the hands of the representative powers in Tangier and those who were
represented by the Legislative Assembly, a Control Committee, an administrator
and two adjunct administrators. The Statute was signed by France, Spain and the
United Kingdom. Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, Portugal, Sweden
and then Italy signed the Statue.
On June 14, 1940, at the start of World
War II, Spain occupied the International Zone in Tangier militarily. On November
23, 1941, it annexed the Northern Zone of the Protectorate. Spain had to all the
while concentrate on its position during the war and not keep control of Tangier
until October 1945. On October 11, 1945, the International Statute of Tangier
was reestablished. Italy would not be readmitted until March 8, 1948.
From
the 19th century, accredited diplomats close to the Cherifien Empire selected
Tangier as their place of residence. This choice was made in part because of its
geographical position, climate and by the regular movements of the Sultan's
court that were changed frequently. Around 1840, the Sultan of Morocco
authorized to undertake the proper steps to follow the cleanliness and health
policies of the city. In 1879, one of the Sultan's Dahirs drew up a Sanitary
Counsel composed of resident diplomats in the Tangier. In 1893, he authorized a
Commission of Municipal Transport created before by the resident diplomats in
Tangier. The Convention of Algesiras bolstered this situation and, moreover, the
system of Surrenders was already applied in Tangier. The systems of Surrenders
sprung out of an Anglo-Moroccan agreement in 1856 and the Convention of Madrid
in 1880 reached out to all the powers.
The Statute of the International Zone
of Tangier was signed in Paris on December 18, 1923. The sovereignty of Tangier
remained in the Sultan's power.
The administration was in the hands of the
representative powers in Tangier and those who were represented by the
Legislative Assembly, a Control Committee, an administrator and two adjunct
administrators. The Statute was signed by France, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, Portugal, Sweden and then Italy
signed the Statue.
On June 14, 1940, at the start of World War II, Spain
occupied the International Zone in Tangier militarily. On November 23, 1941, it
annexed the Northern Zone of the Protectorate. Spain had to all the while
concentrate on its position during the war and not keep control of Tangier until
October 1945. On October 11, 1945, the International Statute of Tangier was
reestablished. Italy would not be readmitted until March 8, 1948.
The
International Statue of Tangier was repealed in October 1956.
The Spanish Sahara
The Spanish annexed the coastal territory stretching between Cape Bojador and
Cape Blanc in 1884. The annexation was recognized by the Congress of Berlin in
1885. It was the Franco-Spanish conventions in 1904 and 1912 that gave Spain
Sequiet El Hamra, to the South of what was to become the southern Spanish Zone
of the Protectorate. At the beginning of the century, the Rio de Oro and Adrar
were administered by the government of the Canary Islands. In 1924, Rio de Oro
and Sequiet El Hamra took the name of Spanish Sahara.
In 1960, this
territory became a Spanish province.
It is important to know that the
occupation of this territory was very slow and very progressive. One cannot
speak of a permanent Spanish occupation in Cap Juby until the end of 1916, in
Guera in 1920 and in Smara in the interior of Sequiet El Hamir at the end of
1934. Let us not forget that Cap Juby (Tarfaya) is in the southern Spanish Zone
of the protectorate.
The southern border of the Spanish Sahara, then Rio de
Oro, had settled with France on June 27, 1900.
On November 14, 1975, Spain
ceded the North and center of the western Sahara to Morocco and the south to
Mauritania. Spanish troops left El Aiun on December 20, 1975. On April 14, 1976,
Morocco and Mauritania demarcated the partition of the former Spanish Sahara.
From February 27, 1975, the Front Polisario had declared its independence from
the Arab Republic of Democratic Sahara. In August 1979, Mauritania gave up its
part of Western Sahara.
In 1980, Morocco had firm control of the useful
triangle of Sequient El Hamra. The construction of successive barriers allowed
it to extend this control towards the South.
May 1995
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