Morocco, Spain & the borders history never settled

A sudden rush of migrants into Ceuta has once again turned one of Europe’s most unusual borders into the frontline of a centuries-old dispute between Morocco and Spain.

Ceuta sits on the North African coast, directly across the Strait of Gibraltar from southern Spain. Together with Melilla, farther east, it forms the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.

Both cities are governed as full parts of Spain. Their residents vote in Spanish elections, use the euro and carry European passports. Morocco rejects Spanish sovereignty over them, referring to Ceuta as ‘Sebta’ and Melilla as ‘Melilia’, and describing both as occupied Moroccan territory.

The competing claims come from very different readings of history.

Portugal captured Ceuta in 1415, before it later became part of the Spanish Crown. Spain captured Melilla in 1497. Madrid argues that both cities had been Spanish for centuries before modern Morocco gained independence in 1956.

The Smaller Disputed Territories

Morocco sees Spain’s presence as an unfinished colonial legacy. Rabat argues that independence remained incomplete because Spain gave up its protectorate in northern Morocco while keeping cities, islands and military outposts along the Moroccan coast.

Those smaller territories include the Chafarinas Islands, the Alhucemas Islands and the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera.

The Peñón is a tiny fortified Spanish position attached to the Moroccan mainland by a narrow strip of sand. Spain has controlled it continuously since 1564, and a small military garrison remains stationed there.

Another disputed territory is Perejil Island, known in Morocco as Leila Island. The uninhabited rock nearly caused an armed confrontation in 2002, when Moroccan personnel landed there and raised their flag. Spain responded with a special-forces operation and removed them without casualties.

The crisis lasted only days, but it showed how even the smallest territory can become a symbol of sovereignty and national pride.

Western Sahara

The most consequential territorial dispute, however, lies farther south in Western Sahara.

Spain colonized the territory in the late nineteenth century. As colonial rule weakened, Morocco claimed Western Sahara on the basis of historical ties, while the Polisario Front demanded an independent Sahrawi state.

In 1975, the International Court of Justice found that some Sahrawi tribes had historic ties of allegiance to Morocco, but said those ties did not cancel the population’s right to self-determination.

King Hassan II responded with the Green March, mobilizing around 350,000 Moroccans toward the territory. Spain withdrew soon afterward as General Francisco Franco was dying and the country entered a political transition.

Morocco eventually took control of most of Western Sahara. The Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, continued fighting for independence.

A United Nations-backed ceasefire began in 1991 and was meant to lead to a referendum. That vote never happened because the sides could not agree on who could participate or whether independence would be offered.

Morocco now proposes autonomy for Western Sahara under Moroccan sovereignty. The Polisario Front insists that full independence must remain an option.

Moroccan officials say nearly 120 countries support the autonomy proposal or consider it a serious basis for a settlement. Those positions vary considerably and do not all amount to recognition of Moroccan sovereignty.

The United States and Israel have explicitly recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. France has also moved close to that position, saying the territory’s present and future fall within Moroccan sovereignty. The United Nations still regards Western Sahara’s final legal status as unresolved.

The conflict has repeatedly affected relations between Morocco and Spain.

In 2021, Spain secretly admitted Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali for medical treatment. Morocco reacted angrily, and around 8,000 migrants entered Ceuta after border controls on the Moroccan side were relaxed.

Spain deployed soldiers and accused Morocco of using migration as diplomatic pressure. Relations improved only after Madrid shifted closer to Rabat’s position on Western Sahara in 2022.

Migration Concerns

Large crossings into Ceuta and Melilla are therefore not new. Migrants have repeatedly attempted to climb border fences, swim around barriers or enter during periods of weakened enforcement. Some incidents have remained security problems, while larger influxes have triggered direct diplomatic confrontations between Madrid and Rabat.

The relationship is built on mutual dependence. Spain needs Moroccan cooperation to control migration and protect the European Union’s southern frontier. Morocco depends heavily on Spanish trade, investment and access to Europe.

This produces a cycle of cooperation, pressure and reconciliation. Territorial disputes remain unresolved, but both countries have strong reasons to prevent them from causing a permanent rupture.

That contradiction will become even more visible in 2030, when Morocco, Spain and Portugal jointly host the FIFA World Cup.

Teams and supporters will travel between Europe and Africa across the same Strait surrounded by disputed cities, unresolved territorial claims and recurring migration crises.

For centuries, the Strait of Gibraltar has separated Morocco and Spain. At the 2030 World Cup, it will become the central corridor connecting them.