https://www.engineeringnews.co.za

Ceuta and Melilla – the European Union in Africa

16th October 2015

By: Riaan de Lange

  

Font size: - +

What a difference a week makes! When I was preparing last week’s column, I wanted to head for the hills, but then I already was in the mountains – in Spain, as you would recall from last week’s instalment of this column. This week, I am readying myself to board a ferry and sail from the city of Ceuta (pronounced Sju:t) to the city of Algeciras, both in Spain, a journey of 43.8 km that takes about one hour and 15 minutes.

A 43 800 m ferry journey from one Spanish city to another that takes about 75 minutes? While you ponder that, I should just add that I will be leaving one continent for another – Africa for Europe. Ceuta, a 18.5 km2 city, is one of the two Spanish enclave cities on the northern-most part of Africa that would otherwise have been part of Morocco (based on location and proximity), the other being Melilla (‘white one’), a 12.3 km2 city.

While in the queue, waiting to board the ferry, I notice a young woman wearing a black hijab, dressed in a long-sleeved top that covered her arms, black pants stretching all the way to her black closed shoes, dark sunglasses and, out of character with the rest of the attire, a grey gym sweatshirt with the words ‘Run away with me!!!’ in red printed on it.

The T-shirt caption is ironic for several reasons, not least of which is that Ceuta and Melilla – having been called the ‘back doors of Europe’ and also ‘Europe’s razor-wire door’ – are separated from the European continent by the Mediterranean and from Africa by huge fences. Both cities are members of the European Union (EU), which means access to the EU is merely the scaling of a fence away, while one remains on the African continent. As a consequence, some African migrants have taken to scaling the fences of Ceuta and Melilla instead of crossing the water – the Mediterranean. For, once on Spanish soil, there is ample opportunity to board a ferry to mainland Spain – and there are several daily ferry crossings. For instance, the ferry service that I used crosses the Mediterranean 12 times a day, seven days a week, and there are at least three other operators.

Although I made my first acquaintance with Ceuta in 1980, I did not know of its fences, which are a fairly recent addition; they were erected in 1998. As for Melilla, which never even appeared on my radar, it had fences erected in 1993.

So, what do you know of the Ceuta or the Melilla border fences? Both were constructed by Spain to stop illegal immigration and smuggling. Morocco objected to the erection of the fences, as it does not recognise Spanish sovereignty over the two cities.

The Ceuta border fence, which is 8.4 km long, consists of parallel 6-m-high fences topped with barbed wire, with regular watch posts and a road running between them to accommodate police patrols or an ambulance service. It incorporates underground cables connected to spotlights, noise and movement sensors, and video cameras connected to a central control booth, dozens of guardships and patrol boats checking the coast, while 621 civil guards (a military force charged with police duties) and 548 police officers control the shore. The Melilla border fence (the present one is the third to be erected) consists of 12 km of parallel 6-m-high fences and is similar in design and construction to the Ceuta border fence. Thus far, these fences have succeeded in deterring massive illegal immigrant influxes.

What do we know of Ceuta and Melilla in the context of the EU? Both are excluded from the EU common agricultural and fisheries policies, and are also outside the customs union and value-added tax (VAT) area. In addition, no customs are levied on goods exported from the EU into either Ceuta or Melilla, and certain goods originating in Ceuta and Melilla are exempt from customs charges. The two cities also benefit from an autonomous preferential agreement with the EU that allows products originating in the two cities to benefit from most of the cumulation systems signed by the EU with third countries. While nominally part of the Schengen Area, Spain performs identity checks on all sea and air passengers leaving the enclaves for elsewhere in the Schengen Area. It is interesting to note that the EU does not have a common immigration policy regarding nationals of third countries. Some countries, such as Spain and Malta, have called for other EU member States to share the responsibility of dealing with migration flows from Africa, while France, along with Spain, wants to forge broad bilateral accords with African countries that would offer incentives for migrants to return to Africa.

Before saying our goodbyes to the ‘two sleepy Spanish enclaves’ on the coast of Morocco, let us quickly reflect on how both became part of continental Europe.
Ceuta’s location has made it an important commercial trade and military waypoint for many cultures, beginning with the Carthaginians in the fifth century BC, who called the city Abyla. On January 1, 1668, by the Treaty of Lisbon, King Afonso VI of Portugal recognised the formal allegiance of Ceuta to Spain and formally ceded Ceuta to Spain. For a short period – from 1694 to 1727 – the city was besieged by Moroccan forces before being recaptured by Spain.

Melilla was established as an ancient Berber village and also served as a Phoenician trade establishment, and later became part of the Roman Empire. After changes in ownership, it was conquered by Spain in 1497, virtually without a fight. Though the city was besieged from 1694 to 1696 and again from 1774 to 1775, it remained under Spanish ownership.

Morocco has repeatedly called for Spain to transfer the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, along with uninhabited islets, such as the islands of Alhucemas Velez and Perejil, drawing comparisons with Spain’s territorial claim to Gibraltar, a British overseas territory.

I could not resist feeling being fenced in – while Spain has the fences, Morocco has a wall. Yes, a wall. The Moroccan Wall of Western Sahara is about 2 700 km long, and is mostly a sand wall or ‘berm’, running through Western Sahara and the south- eastern portion of Morocco. According to maps from the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, part of the wall extends several kilometres into internationally recognised Mauritanian territory.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

Comments

Showroom

John Thompson
John Thompson

John Thompson, the leader in energy and environmental solutions through value engineering and innovation, provides the following: design, engineer,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Schauenburg SmartMine IoT
Schauenburg SmartMine IoT

SmartMine IoT has been developed with the mining industry in mind, to provides our customers with powerful business intelligence and data modelling...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.081 0.144s - 139pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now