Why Spain (Still) Has Cities in Africa

Spain has several territories, including two small cities, on the northern coast of Africa. These behave essentially like any other city in Spain, but why do they still belong to Spain?

MUSIC:
“King of Lions” by Sight of Wonders*
“No More Conversations” by Mike Franklyn*
“An Ordinary Day” by Deskant*
“Egypt Calling” by Sight of Wonders*
"The Dynasty" by Andreas Waldetoft
“Arabic Guesthouse” by Sight of Wonders*
“Veni Vidi Vici” by Andreas Waldetoft
"Egyptology" by Sight of Wonders*
(*via EpidemicSound)

📖 SOURCES:
Maps:

Adri Cortesia, John Scarberry, Nif Lindsay, Rebanics, Robert Siska, Tasha, Anonymous Freak, ImNotDonaldTrump, Larry Burch, Tobi Burch-Rates

[מ.מ-הד]

0:14 Yes, Czechia would definitely be landlocked if that would happen.

[blosblosjrinthehouse]

Ceuta and Melilla are part of Spain many centuries before Morocco was even formed. The people there are actually the most pro Spanish and patriotic in the entire country. They are as Spanish as any other city in Spain and both have the possibility of becoming “comunidades autónomas” (the Spanish version of states in the USA however they have declined due to their small sizes, yet they are in no way what we consider colonies. They are integral cities to Spain.

[jesusdavis]

In Spanish the term plazas de soberanía is not currently used for Ceuta & Melilla, it's used only for the outlying islands

[floppyearfriend]

Hey, I know I already pointed this out in a different video, but since my native language is Spanish I want to point out again that I really appreciate the efforts you make to pronounce foreign names correctly. Even if it's not 100% perfect it really does make your videos look better researched, and it makes your content much more enjoyable to watch.
A lot of youtubers really mangle foreign pronunciations and it makes me wonder just how informed they are when they do things like mess up the Spanish soft G.

[geography_joe]

I’ve been to Ceuta on my way to Morocco, it was shocking to see how tall the border fences are. But ceuta itself was weirdly unremarkable, with the same architecture I’d expect from anywhere else in Spain. Its really quite interesting, plus there are more spanish flags in ceuta than I’d seen anywhere else

[lelsenpai]

Hi i`m from Ceuta. Ceuta is more spanish than granada because portugal conquer it after the end of the reconquista

[beltrangarrote]

A Spaniard here. A "Colony" means: territory subject to foreign rule. The Protectorate was a colony, that's why it was decolonised. Ceuta and Melilla were Spain before Morocco was formed. They were never a colony. There is nothing to "give back" since it was never their's. The Canary Islands are another part of Spain in Africa also and nobody talks about it. I guess it's because they are an archipelago, hence no land border. There are more Countries with territories (not colonies) in more than 1 continent: Turkey, Russian, UK, France, Spain, USA, The Netherlands...

[Albanian_History]

The cities have been in Spanish control for longer than Morocco was a country Morocco have no claim at all😹

[samwill]

"Straights of Gibraltar" is a way lamer name, wish we kept calling it "The Pillars of Hercules"

[Lucas.Blevins]

This is one of the best in-video ads I’ve ever seen. One of my favorite videos of yours too! Keep it up man

[ProfessorPolitics]

Holy crap that ad transition was Hats off to you; incredibly clever to use the sponsorship to help make the point you were discussing.

[miguellazarogil]

You should have talked about "La marcha verde" which was a invasion of the Spanish Sahara in 1973. Morocco sent hundreds of thousands of civilians to walk into Spanish territory and Spain (with Franco severely ill and many conflicts with Sahara independentists) decided to leave all together.

Some people say they tried to repeat that strat with Ceuta.

[Siopaoko]

How beautiful are those cities. Madre España el país de mí sueño. Love from the Philippines ♥️

[decostaacosta_]

The situation for Ceuta and Melilla has nothing to do with Gibraltar.
Gibraltar was given to the British crown under a series of conditions which have been repeatedly ignored over the centuries, a population replacement and a grade of autonomy for Gibraltar which was never considered as possible.

[_Viking]

Fun fact, the EU stretch over three continents: Europe, Africa and South America (French Guyana and several islands in the Caribbean) and three oceans: the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean (french islands outside Madagascar)

[soldwyn]

Just a few days ago I‘ve seen these on a map and i‘ve been wondering why these cities are there. Thanks for the video, it was really informative!

[rbb]

Western Sahara independentists are not trying to separate from Morocco. It is Morocco the one trying to seize Western Sahara against the referedemdum that should have had place after decolonization by Spain. This right to have a referendum is recognized by ONU.

[kingleo]

Viva Cristo Rey! ✝️ Ariba Reino de España! 🇪🇸

[CordellBM]

I lived in Melilla! It's interesting to see Melilla & Ceuta getting some attention lately. One interesting thing in Melilla & I believe Ceuta too is they love their multiculturalism. They have a square of culture that shows the cooperation of the Spanish, Indians, Jews & Moroccans. The people are extremely patriotic & are majority Spanish but they still value other cultures. Moroccans tend to hate Melilla & Ceuta from my experience in Morocco & with refugees in Melilla & some Spanish people on the mainland barely know they exist. Not all of course but it's like you wouldn't know every town in your country. That's how Spanish they are. One thing that can't be denied though is Morocco has no claim to them aside from the fact that they are close to Morocco. According to international law, the Moroccan claim is considered extremely weak.

[Leugim]

“In their perspective it was a reconquest” well that’s literally what it was, the lands were not ruled by Muslims before they invaded the peninsula