spanish territorial boundary changes in northwest africa

American Geographical Society

Spanish Territorial Boundary Changes in Northwest AfricaAuthor(s): George F. DeasySource: Geographical Review, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr., 1942), pp. 303-306Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/210278 .

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SPANISH TERRITORIAL BOUNDARY CHANGES IN

NORTHWEST AFRICA

George F. Deasy

SPAIN'S colonial possessions include some I20,000 square miles of strategically located territory in Northwest Africa. The maps of Figure iI show the steps by which this territory has taken shape since the Spanish-Moroccan Treaty of I 860.

THiE SPANISH-FRENCH BOUNDARY IN NORTHERN MOROCCO

The line delimiting Spanish and French spheres of influence in northern Morocco was first defined in the secret negotiations between France and Spain in I902 (Article III, Para- graph 3 of the proposed treaty). The Spanish Zone as defined in this agreement covered a larger area than any designated in the subsequent succession of treaties. As described, the line of demarcation began on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Wadi Sebu, followed the thalwegs of various wadies and the crests of certain mountain ranges, and ended at the point where the Wadi Muluya enters the Mediterranean.

The secret Franco-Spanish Convention of I904 considerably reduced the Spanish sphere of influence in northern Morocco (Article II, Paragraph 7). Only in the easternmost segment, along the lower Muluya, did the new boundary coincide with the I902 line. Else- where it followed a series of stream divides, thalwegs, and arbitrary lines until it reached the Atlantic "au-dessus de la lagune de Ez Zerga."

The present boundary line between the French and Spanish zones in northern Morocco dates from the Franco-Spanish Convention of I9I2 (Article II, Paragraphs i to 3). This line, which further reduces the extent of Spanish territory, also begins at the mouth of the Muluya but follows a devious course slightly to the north of the I904 line and ends at the point of junction between the 35th parallel of north latitude and the Atlantic coast line. By this same treaty the present boundary of the Tangier International Zone was also established (Article VII).

THE SPANISH-FRENCH BOUNDARY IN THE WESTERN SAHARA

Spanish territorial claims in what is known as the Spanish Sahara2 date from a Spanish Notification (anuary 9, I885) of the extension of,Spanish protection over a part of the

IThe maps are based on firsthand source material. Copies of the relevant treaties and conventions were examined, and the place names mentioned in the boundary delineations were located, so far as possible, on a large-scale map. The names were then connected on the present maps to form the boundary lines. Although accuracy was a main goal in the construction of these maps, the precision of the boundaries indicated cannot exceed (i) the accuracy of the boundary statements contained in the conventions and treaties; (2) the extent to which the boundary place names mentioned in the treaties could be located on available maps; and (3) the cartographic limits imposed by the scale of the maps used.

2 The name "Spanish Sahara" or "Spanish Western Sahara" is commonly applied loosely to the following three Spanish territorial entities in Northwest Africa: (i) the Crown Colony of Rio de Oro, (2) the "Occupied Zone," and (3) the Protectorate (sometimes called Southern Morocco). Available evidence would seem to indicate that the name "Rio de Oro," although sometimes used in reference to the Crown Colony, the "Occupied Zone," and the Protectorate as a unit, and also in reference to the



304 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Saharan littoral. Although this document defined the northern and southern limits of the zone of influence (the parallels of 260 8' N. and 200 5 ' N. respectively), it failed to indicate an inland boundary.

The Franco-Spanish Convention of I900 designated an inland boundary and also a new southern boundary but neglected to indicate a northern limit (Article I). The new southern line of demarcation followed the divide of the Cape Blanco peninsula northward to the parallel of 21 20' N., then turned eastward and followed this parallel to its intersection with the meridian of I30 west of Greenwich. The inland limit was indicated by a curved line at a distance of 20 kilometers to the west of the salt flats of Ijil extending to the intersection of the Tropic of Cancer and the meridian of I20 west of Greenwich, then by a straight line following northward along this meridian.

The secret Franco-Spanish negotiations of I902, using as initial point the northern terminal point of the I900 line, extended the boundary to include a large area lying between Cape Bojador and Cape Guir (Article III, Paragraph i). The line of demarcation followed such a variety of features as a straight line, a road, a meridian of longitude, the thalwegs of several wadies, and "the ridges of the Atlas." It virtually doubled the area under Spanish influence and represented the maximum extent of Spanish territorial claims in this part of Africa.

The boundary history of the Spanish Saharan region since I902 has reflected a steady reduction in the extent of the Spanish sphere of influence. The secret Franco-Spanish Con- vention of I904 shifted the boundary west and south of the I902 line: from the initial point at the terminus of the I900 line it followed in turn a parallel of latitude, a meridian of longitude, the thalweg of a wadi, another meridian, and, finally, several stream divides (Articles II and V). The Franco-Spanish Convention of I9I2 moved the boundary still farther southward, to its present position along the Wadi Draa (Article II, Paragraph 4).

THE IFNI BOUNDARY

Spanish territorial claims in the Ifni area date back to the Spanish-Moroccan Treaty of i86o (Article VIII), in which the Sultan of Morocco ceded to Spain coastal territory close to Santa Cruz la Pequenia "sufficient for the formation thereon of a fishery establishment, similar to that which Spain possessed there in ancient times." In the Arabic version of the treaty, however, the specified locality was called "Agadir." Hence no sooner was the treaty signed than a question arose as to the exact position and extent of the area involved.

The Ifni area was not mentioned specifically in the negotiations of I902 but was ap- parently included in the large segment of territory that was to be delegated to Spain. The secret Franco-Spanish Convention of I904 (Article IV) defined the northern boundary

Crown Colony and the "Occupied Zone" as a unit exclusive of the Protectorate, is properly more strictly confined to the Crown Colony. See Francisco del Rio Joan; Africa occidental espaiiola (Sa'hara y Guinea), memoria elevada al Excmo. Senior Ministro de Estado . .., Ministerio de Estado, Seccion Colonial, Madrid, I9I9, p. 335 and map "Sahara Espafiol," and the following maps: "Africa" and "Mapa de los territorios al s.o. de Marruecos" in Boletln Oficial de la Zona de Influencia Espaniola enMarruecos, Vol. i, No. i, Ministerio de Estado, Madrid, I9I3; "Croquis de conjunto de las colonias y protectorado de Espania en el Africa Occidental" in Africa, November, I932 (a Spanish publication); "Carte generale d'Afrique," i: 5,ooo,ooo, Service Geographique de l'Armee, Paris, Sheet No. i, "Afrique Nord-Ouest," I929.



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FiG. i-Territorial development of Spanish possessions in Northwest Africa. Reference to documents on boundary definitions:

i885, Spanish Notification. See translation in Sir Edward Hertslet: The Map of Africa by Treaty, 3rd edit., London, 1909, Vol. 3,

pp. ii63-1i64. i900, Franco-Spanish Convention. See translation in Hertslet, op. cit., pp. ii65-ii67.

i902, Franco-Spanish Negotiations. See translation of treaty project, with historical notes, in Amer. journ. of Intertnatl. Law, Vol. 8,

1914, pp. 867-873; see also E. Rouard de Card: La question morocaine et la ne6gociation franco-espagnole de i9o2, Paris, i9i2.

1904, Franco-Spanish Convention (boundaries between French and Spanish spheres). See British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. 102,

i9o8-i9o9, PP. 432-43 5; see also translation in E. D. Morel: Morocco in Diplomacy, London, 1912, PP. 236-242.

1904, Franco-Spanish Convention (boundaries within Spanish sphere). See British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. IO2, I908-I909, P. 434.

I9I2, Franco-Spanish Convention. See "Trait's, codes et lois du Maroc," Vol. I, 1924, PP. 124-129; see also translation in Amer. Journ.

of Internatl. Law, Official Documents Suppl., Vol. 7, 1913, pp. 81-93.

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3 o6 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

(the Wadies Tazerualt and Massa) but failed to indicate the inland or southern extent. As the treaty terminated the northern boundary of the general Spanish Sahara region at the point where the northern boundary of the Ifni area began (Articles IV and V), it seems that the Ifni area was still undelimited territory within the larger Spanish sphere of influence.

The present boundaries of Ifni, including a new northern limit somewhat to the south of the I904 line, were fixed by the Franco-Spanish Convention of I9I2 (Article III) as the Wadi Bu Sedra on the north, the Wadi Nun on the south, and a line, 25 kilometers from the coast, connecting these two wadies. By the terms of this treaty, Ifni became an enclave of Spanish territory, distinct from the Spanish Sahara.

TRENDS

An examination of the Franco-Spanish boundary changes in Northwest Africa during the last century reveals a number of significant trends, which may be summarized as follows:

i. A general increase in Spanish territorial claims and acquisitions from i845 to I902.

This trend culminated in the projected territorial divisions of the Franco-Spanish negotiations of I902.

2. A rapid decrease in Spanish territorial claims from I902 to the present, and a corre- sponding increase in the size of adjacent French possessions.

3. A tendency for Spanish territorial claims, despite all boundary fluctuations, to remain centered in the littoral areas of Africa closest to the older adjacent Spanish holdings. For instance, Spanish claims in northern Morocco have always been centered around the hinter- land of the presidios of Ceuta, Peio6n de Velez de la Gomera, Alhucemas, Zafarinas, and Melilla. Likewise, Spanish claims on the west coast of North Africa have always been focused on the continental areas adjacent to the Canary Islands.

4. A tendency for the transfers of Spanish territory to France to involve the more desirable parts rather than the less desirable ones. This has been true both in the Spanish Sahara region, where the better-watered and more densely populated northern parts have been acquired by France, and in northern Morocco, where the Spanish segment of the more level and densely peopled western plains areas has been reduced in size.

5. Finally, a tendency for the boundaries of the Spanish Sahara and Ifni regions to remain geometrical in type (i.e. straight lines that disregard the physical geography of the country) despite changes in position and an equal but opposite tendency for the boundaries of the Spanish Zone in northern Morocco to remain physical in type. The unexplored character of the Spanish Sahara,3 its lack of relief, and the absence of significant economic possibilities, as compared with the opposite set of circumstances in northern Morocco, probably provide the fundamental basis for this contrast.

3 See Luis Lozano y Rey: Notas sobre una excursion cientifica a la costa del Sahara Espaniol, Bol.

Soc. Geogr. Nacional, Vol. 75, I935, pp. I95-230; Enrique d'Almonte: Ensayo de una breve descrip- cion del Sahara Espanol, Bol. Real Soc. Geogr., Vol. 56, I914j pp. I29-347.

