4 Spanish colonies in AFRICA

For much of its history, Spain has been a great empire, counting on numerous colonies and territories throughout the world. Although generally when we think of Spanish colonies we tend to think of the American ones, the reality is that Spain had numerous territories on the African continent, and even some remains of this past can be seen in present-day Ceuta and Melilla. For all these reasons, in this lesson from a Teacher we must talk about the Spanish colonies in Africa.

The first Spanish possessions on the African continent began at the end of the fifteenth century, when in 1497 the abandoned city of Melilla, located in North Africa, was annexed to Castile. A few years later, Spain conquered the areas of Mazalquivir and Orán, as well as many other ports along the entire North African coast.

During centuries, the Spanish were conquering and losing territories Africans, especially for their confrontations against Portugal, since both regions competed to have the greatest influence in the northern short. This caused as many armed conflicts as numerous agreements in which the priority regions of each of the nations were set.

Already in the 19th century, and with the arrival of the european imperialism to the African continent, causing European nations divided African countries, Spain was able to get new territories. Some of the agreements that gave African territories to Spain were the berlin conference or the Treaty of Paris. These territories are generally, in addition to those located in North Africa, which are usually considered as Spanish colonies in Africa.

After that came a huge crisis of the european nations, which caused the colonies to achieve independence, gradually ending this with the Spanish colonies in Africa. That is why Spain currently only has the regions of Ceuta and Melilla on the African continent.

Find out here how it was cast of africa between the different nations.

To continue this lesson on the Spanish colonies in Africa, we must talk about those Spanish territories on the African continent that are They were considered colonies, since other Spanish possessions on this continent do not have this name, such as the Canary Islands or Ceuta and Melilla. For this reason, we must now talk about the three Spanish colonial territories on the African continent.

Spanish Protectorate of Morocco

This region was made up of two zones, the northern part being the Rif area (Ceuta, Melilla, sovereignty squares and Tangier), and the southern area of ​​Cabo Juby, close to what is known as the Spanish Sahara.

For years Spain had had certain territories in this area, but it was in the 19th century that they managed to expand their domain. In this century the Moroccan sultanate was very weakened, and for this reason many regions were interested in the possibilities of taking the region. It was at this point that Spain began the African War to try to take over Morocco, using revenge for the Moroccan attacks on Ceuta as an excuse.

Some time after the war, the territory was once again a source of conflict, to the point that General Gargallo died. For this reason, a second war began, known as the Margallo War, which ended with a great victory for the Spanish.

At the beginning of the 20th century, due to its weakness, Morocco decided to divide the territory between France and Spain, resulting in two protectorates. It was then in 1912 that the Spanish protectorate of Morocco was born as a Spanish colony, occupying this position until its independence in 1956.

ifni

Ifni was another of the Spanish colonies in Africa. This small area of ​​morocco it was for a time an important Spanish colony. The arrival of the Spanish in the Ifni region took place in the 15th century, when the Castilians occupied this region due to its proximity to the Canary Islands.

For centuries it maintained sovereignty over this region, with important agreements such as the one in Wad Ras, in the that Morocco recognized that the region was the property of Spain and that Morocco had no rights over she.

After the independence of Morocco, Spain and France waged the Ifni-Sahara war, in which both nations faced Moroccan nationalists. The Cintra agreement, signed to end this war, brought the end of Ifni as a Spanish colony, becoming part of Morocco.

Spanish Sahara

At the Berlin Conference, Spain asked for the recognition of the territory known as Río de Oro, especially for the expeditions of Emilio Bonelli. In the Conference its rights were recognized, and also in the Treaties of Paris of 1900 it was ratified that the region passed into Spanish hands.

The Spanish Sahara was first a colony, although over the years it became a Spanish province. But after the independence of Morocco, the African nation began to take an interest in the region, and to attack the area to try to take it from the Spanish.

Finally, Morocco took advantage of a bad moment for Spain, with Franco seriously ill, to invade the region in the Green March, and force the signing of the Tripartite Agreement of Madrid, causing the march of Spain from the region. Since then the area has been called Western Sahara, and is in dispute.

Spanish Guinea

This African region is what we currently know as Equatorial Guinea. It was one of the areas distributed during the Treaty of Paris, being given to Spain, and hence renamed Spanish Guinea. The importance of the colony was such that it even had political participation in the Spanish Cortes of the Franco regime.

In 1959 the territories of Guinea adopted the status of overseas Spanish provinces, being known as Fernando Poo and Río Muni. Four years later the provinces were reunified by the Basic Law, giving them some autonomy.

In 1968 the Equatoguinean nationalists and the United Nations lobbied to liberate the nation, and Spain finally gave them independence. A great vote was carried out, in which independence was the winner, thus ending this important colony.