MOROCCO: Protesters demonstrate against the Spanish royal visit to the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco

Moroccans protested in Tetuan to show their irritation at plans by King Juan Carlos to visit Spain's two north African enclaves, which Morocco claims as its own. Spain said the king would make his first visit as head of state to the small, densely populated cities of Ceuta and Melilla on Morocco's Mediterranean coast on Monday (November 6) and Tuesday, accompanied by Queen Sofia. High-level Spanish trips to Ceuta and Melilla are rare and a visit by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in 2006, the first by a Spanish head of government since 1981, raised hackles in Morocco. Spanish-Moroccan relations have improved since Zapatero came to power and aligned his foreign policy closer to that of staunch Moroccan ally France. A low point was reached in 2002 under his predecessor, Jose Maria Aznar, when Morocco sent troops to the tiny disputed island of Perejil and Spain sent special forces to oust them. News of the trip has caused excitement in the two cities where roads are expected to close, shops will shut and government offices will open only for two hours. Children are unlikely to attend school so they can line the route of the Spanish monarch. Spain took Melilla at the end of the 15th century and took over Ceuta from Portugal in the 17th century. The enclaves now have a lucrative sideline in contraband consumer goods smuggled into Morocco, while high barbed-wire fences attempt to stop illegal migrants coming the other way. Ceuta and Melilla have been recognised as autonomous cities since 1995, a status that gives them less power over their own affairs than the autonomous regions of peninsular Spain. Here are five facts about the enclaves. * Ceuta stands on the Moroccan side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Its strategic position drew Phoenicians, Romans and Visigoths until it came under Arab control. Portugal occupied it in 1415 before ceding it to Spain in 1668. Population: 75,000. * Melilla, east along Morocco's coast from Ceuta, had a similar background before being conquered by the Duke of Medina Sidonia for the Spanish crown in 1497. It has a population of about 68,000. * Since 1995, both have been recognised under the Spanish constitution as Autonomous Cities. This gives them significantly less power over their own affairs than Autonomous Regions of peninsular Spain such as Catalonia or Andalusia. * Spain and Morocco have had several disagreements about the territories and a row blew up last year when Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero made a visit, the first by a serving head of government since 1981. * In 2005, hundreds of illegal migrants stormed border fences between Morocco and the two enclaves in desperate attempts to enter European territory. The fences were strengthened and more forces deployed.

ITN Source | November 5, 2007

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