Spanish Sahara

For the song by Foals, see Spanish Sahara (song).

Province of the Sahara Provincia del Sahara (Spanish) إقليم الصحراء الإسبانية ما وراء البحار (Arabic)
1884–1976
Flag of Spain (1945–1977) Coat of arms (1955–1975)
Anthem: Marcha Real (1884–1931, 1942–1976) Himno de Riego (1931–1942)
Green: Spanish Sahara. Light grey: Other Spanish possessions. Dark grey: Spain.
Status	Colony of Spain (1884–1958) Province of Spain (1958–1976)
Capital and largest city	Villa Cisneros (1884–1940) El Aaiún (1940–1976)
Common languages	Spanish Hassaniya Arabic
Religion	Roman Catholicism Sunni Islam
Government	Spanish colonial government
Head of State
• 1884–1885 (first)	Alfonso XII
• 1975–1976 (last)	Juan Carlos I
Governor-General
• 1884–1902 (first)	Emilio Bonelli
• 1974–1976 (last)	F. Gómez de Salazar
Historical era	New Imperialism, World War I, World War II, Cold War
• Berlin Conference	26 December 1884
• Madrid Accords	14 November 1975
• SADR established	26 February 1976
Population
• 1970	Template:&approx Europeans
• 1974	Template:&approx Sahrawis
Currency	Spanish peseta
Preceded by Succeeded by Spanish West Africa Morocco Ifni Tiris al-Gharbiyya Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
Today part of	Morocco Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Liberated territories)

Spanish Sahara (Spanish: Sahara Español; Arabic: الصحراء الإسبانية As-Sahrā'a Al-Isbānīyah), officially the Spanish Territories in the Sahara from 1884 to 1958 then Province of the Sahara between 1958 and 1976, was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was occupied and ruled by Spain between 1884 and 1976. It had been one of the most recent acquisitions of, as well as one of the last remaining holdings of the Spanish Empire, which had once extended from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies.

Between 1946 and 1958, the Spanish Sahara was amalgamated with the nearby Spanish-protected Cape Juby and Spanish Ifni to form a new colony, Spanish West Africa. This was reversed during the Ifni War when Ifni and the Sahara became provinces of Spain separately, two days apart, while Cape Juby was ceded to Morocco in the peace deal.

Spain gave up its Saharan possession following Moroccan demands and international pressure, mainly from United Nations resolutions regarding decolonisation. There was internal pressure from the native Sahrawi population, through the Polisario Front, and the claims of Morocco and Mauritania. After gaining independence in 1956, Morocco laid claim to the territory as part of its historic pre-colonial territory. Mauritania claimed the territory for a number of years on a historical basis, but dropped all claims in 1979.

In 1975, Morocco occupied much of the territory, now known as Western Sahara, but the Polisario Front, promoting the sovereignty of an independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), fought a guerrilla war for 16 years against Morocco. In 1991, the UN negotiated a ceasefire and has tried to arrange negotiations and a referendum to let the population vote on its future. Morocco controls the entire Atlantic coast and most of the landmass, population and natural resources of Western Sahara.

History

Spanish and French protectorates in Morocco and Spanish Sahara, 1935.

At the Berlin Conference (1884–1885), the European powers were establishing the rules for setting up zones of influence or protection in Africa, and Spain declared 'a protectorate of the African coast' from Cape Blanc to Cape Bojador on 26 December 1884. It officially informed the other powers in writing on 14 January 1885. It began establishing trading posts and a military presence. In July 1885, King Alfonso XII appointed Emilio Bonelli commissioner of the Río de Oro with civil and military authority. On 6 April 1887, the area was incorporated into the Captaincy General of the Canary Islands for military purposes. In the summer of 1886, under the sponsorship of the Spanish Society of Commercial Geography (Sociedad Española de Geografía Comercial), Julio Cervera Baviera, Felipe Rizzo (1823–1908) and Francisco Quiroga (1853–1894) traversed the territory, which was called Río de Oro, and made topographical and astronomical observations. At the time, geographers had not mapped the territory and its features were not widely known. Their trek is considered the first scientific expedition in that part of the Sahara.

On entering the territory in 1884, Spanish forces were immediately challenged by stiff resistance from the indigenous Sahrawi tribes, Saharan Berbers who lived in many oases and coastal villages. The indigenous people worked mainly in fishing and camel herding, and speak the Hassaniya language, a Bedouin Arabic dialect. A rebellion in 1904 was led by the powerful Smara-based marabout, Shaykh Ma al-'Aynayn, was put down by France in 1910, which ruled neighbouring Algeria. This was followed by a wave of uprisings under Ma al-Aynayn's sons, grandsons and other political leaders.

In 1886, Spain signed the Treaty of Idjil, by which the Emirate of Adrar ceded the land of the colony to Spain. This treaty was of no legal value, since the Emir had no claim to the territory, the Spanish 'invented' a claim which the Emir could, with no harm to himself, immediately cede.

There is some dispute and ambiguity about whether the territory was under Moroccan royal sovereignty at the time when the Spanish claimed it in 1884. According to the two sixteenth-century treaties, quoted by the historian Romeu (Vol. 1): the Treaty of Alcáçovas and the Treaty of Cintra, between Spain and Portugal, they recognize that the authority of Morocco extended beyond Cabo Bojador. Then there is the treaty between Morocco and Spain of 1 March 1767. This treaty, according to Article 18 of which Sherifian sovereignty extended beyond the Wad Noun, Le., further south into the neighbouring region of Sakiet El Hamra, this is further establish in the Anglo-Moroccan Agreement of 13 March 1895 that Moroccan territory extends to Cabo Bojador, including Sakiet El Hamra. The International Court of Justice found in their Advisory opinion on Western Sahara of 1975 they were legal ties of allegiance (Bay'ah) between this territory and the Kingdom of Morocco but they didn't extend to sovereignty over the territory.

The borders of the territory were not clearly defined until treaties between Spain and France in the early 20th century. The Spanish Sahara was originally a union of two seperate sub-colonies known as the Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra. Both of the administrations of the colonies were unified in 1924 to make the Spanish Territories in the Sahara. It was not part of the areas known as Spanish Morocco and was administered separately.

Modern history

Sahrawi family in Spanish Sahara between 1970 and 1974.

After gaining independence in 1956, Morocco laid claim to Spanish Sahara as part of its historic pre-colonial territory. In 1957, the Moroccan Army of Liberation nearly occupied the small territory of Ifni, north of Spanish Sahara, during the Ifni War. The Spanish sent a regiment of paratroopers from the nearby Canary Islands and repelled the attacks. With the assistance of the French, Spain soon re-established control in the area through Operaciones Teide-Ecoubillon (Spanish name) / Opérations Ecouvillon (French name).

Spain tried to suppress resistance politically. It forced some of the previously nomadic inhabitants of Spanish Sahara to settle in certain areas, and the rate of urbanisation was increased. In 1958, Spain united the territories of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro to form the overseas province of Spanish Sahara, while ceding the province of the Cape Juby strip (which included Villa Bens) in the same year to Morocco.

In the 1960s, Morocco continued to claim Spanish Sahara. It gained agreement by the United Nations to add the territory to the list of territories to be decolonised. In 1969, Spain returned Ifni to Morocco, but continued to retain Spanish Sahara.

In 1967, Spanish rule was challenged by the Harakat Tahrir, a protest movement secretly organised by the Royal Moroccan Government. Spain suppressed the 1970 Zemla Intifada.

In 1973, the Polisario Front was formed in a revival of militant Sahrawi nationalism. The Front's guerrilla army grew rapidly, and Spain lost effective control over most of the territory by early 1975. Its effort to found a political rival, the Partido de Unión Nacional Saharaui (PUNS), met with little success. Spain proceeded to co-opt tribal leaders by setting up the Djema'a, a political institution loosely based on traditional Sahrawi tribal leaders. The Djema'a members were hand-picked by the authorities, but given privileges in return for rubber-stamping Madrid's decisions.

In the winter of 1975, just before the death of its long-time dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Spain was confronted with an intensive campaign of territorial demands from Morocco and, to a lesser extent, from Mauritania. These culminated in the Marcha Verde ('Green March'). After negotiating the Madrid Accords with Morocco and Mauritania, Spain withdrew its forces and settlers from the territory.

Morocco and Mauritania took control of the region. Mauritania later surrendered its claim after fighting an unsuccessful war against the Polisario Front. Morocco began fighting the Polisario Front, and after sixteen years, the UN negotiated a cease-fire in 1991. Today, the sovereignty of the territory remains in dispute. A referendum has not been possible to date due to dispute over who can vote.

Military

Spanish troops in the Sahara in 1975

In June 1956 the 13th Brigade of the Spanish Legion was created to operate in what was then known as Spanish West Africa. The legionary presence began with the brigade landing in Hasi Aotman (near El Aaiún) on July 1, 1956. The 13th Brigade was created specifically to serve in this province, remaining in it until June 1969 when it will be dissolved and its components will go to serve in the Spanish Legion.

In August 1958 it was ordered the transfer of the 3rd and 4th Tercios of the Spanish Legion to the Spanish Sahara creating the Tericos Saharinos. The 3rd Tercio "Don Juan de Austria" was garriosoned in Sidi Buya (El Aaiún) and the 4th Tercio "Alejandro Farnesio" in Villa Cisneros.

The Saharan Tercios were composed of, in addition to the Infantry Brigades, a Light Cavalry Group (I in the 3rd and II in the 4th) and an Artillery Battery (the latter were disbanded in 1964). In addition, the 3rd Tercio had an AMX-30E Tank Company.

After the withdrawal ordered by the government in Madrid, which was carried out in stages, the Light Cavalry Group II was the last unit to leave the territory, embarking in Villa Cisneros on January 11, 1976; the 3rd Tercio was garrisoned in Fuerteventura and the 4th Tercio was disbanded.

Tropas Nomadas

The first military type unit to be created in the territory was the Mía de Policía a Pie in Cape Juby in 1926, composed of natives and commanded by Spanish officers. It was created to police the border with Spanish Morocco, as well as the maintenance of order along the coast.

On October 13, 1928, the Sahara Police Troops were born, equipped with dromedaries, with the main objective of ensuring the loyalty of the tribal chiefs.

The two units of the police were organized as follows:

• Command
• three sections of sharpshooters
• Support Weapons Platoon
• Convoy Train

The Mounted Police is organized in ferges; its uniform consisted of white shirt (aderraj) under a dark blue one with wide pants (zerual) of white, chickpea or dark blue color and a turban (lesa) the same color as the pants.

During the Civil War (1936-39) the army in the Sahara is reinforced with a Tabor of the Tiradores de Ifni. After the provincialization (1959), the units were reorganized and the Tropas Nomadas were created. It was organised into two groups formed by the General Staff and three platoons in each group. In 1963 a third group was added.

The unit was disbanded in 1976 without any other unit retaining its history.

Administration

Citizenship

All the native inhabitants of the Sahara received the National Identity Document. Initially, the document was of the same design as that of the rest of Spain, but later there was a second version that differed from the rest by its red color, and the Spanish passport, together with the family book, and all the corresponding documents.This fact demonstrated the full Spanish nationality of its inhabitants and was put forward in the appeals made by Saharawi citizens in order to demonstrate that their loss was null, given that no Spanish national can be deprived of it and this was recognized by the Supreme Court

Vehicle registration

The license plate of the province was "SH", and from 1971 it worked with an alphanumeric system, like the rest of the provinces. After the withdrawal from the Sahara in 1976, Spain established a brief transition period for vehicles with SH registration to change their registration to one from another Spanish province. After this period, Spain ceased to recognize as valid Spanish license plates all license plates beginning with SH.

See also

• List of colonial governors of Spanish Sahara
• International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara
• History of Western Sahara
• Moroccan Army of Liberation
• Southern Provinces
• Tiris al-Gharbiyya
• Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
• Spanish West Africa

References

Media related to Spanish Sahara at Wikimedia Commons