Plaza de soberanía

(Redirected from Plazas de soberanía)

Categories: Mediterranean | Geography of Morocco | Islands of Spain

In addition to its autonomous communities, Spain has five plazas de soberanía (literally meaning 'places of sovereignty') near Morocco administrated directly by Madrid's Government. They are part of the European Union as part of Spain. Their currency is the euro. They have a combined population of 145,336. This is roughly divided half and half between Ceuta and Melilla, although Ceuta is marginally the more populous.

• Islas Chafarinas,
• Peñón de Alhucemas,
• Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera,
• Isla de Alborán
• Isla Perejil, a small unhinhabited islet close to Ceuta that was the subject of a confrontation with Morocco in 2002, and is not a Plaza de soberanía in itself, but rather no-man's land.

Ceuta and Melilla are now autonomous cities (a kind of autonomous community), and have more powers than plain cities (they can produce regulations to execute acts, with higher regulation competencies than normal city councils) but fewer than autonomous communities (as they do not have autonomous legislative powers).

When Spain recognized the independence of Morocco in 1956, it did not withdraw its claims to any of the islands and islets off Morocco's northern coast that Spain has held since the 16th century, long before the colonization of Morocco in the 1900s. This left the Chafarinas Islands, Alborán Island and the Rocks of Alhucemas and Vélez de la Gomera under direct Spanish administration.

All of these islands are claimed by Morocco.