Mistreatment of the indigenous population in Spanish Morocco led to an uprising and the loss of this North African possession except for the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in 1921.

It comprises 17 autonomous communities ( Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile and León, Castile – La Mancha, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Community of Madrid, Region of Murcia, Basque Country, Valencian Community, Navarre ) and 2 autonomous cities ( Ceuta and Melilla ).

Morocco makes similar claims against Spain over the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.

* border 30px Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and nearby islands

The Spanish enclave of Ifni in the south became part of the new Morocco in 1969, but other Spanish possessions in the north ( Ceuta, Melilla and some small islands ) remain under Madrid's control, with Morocco viewing them as occupied territory.

Algeria 1 559 km, Mauritania ( de facto ) 1561 km, Spain ( Ceuta ) 6. 3 km, Spain ( Melilla ) 9. 6 km

Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa.

Melilla ( like Ceuta ) was a free port before Spain joined the European Union.

Morocco had previously called for negotiations on the future of Melilla, Ceuta and a number of Mediterranean islands which border it.

Melilla ( and Ceuta ) have declared the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice, as an official public holiday from 2010 onwards.

Melilla and Ceuta are the only two European-Union territories located in mainland Africa.

The government of Morocco has repeatedly requested from Spain the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, of Perejil Island, and of some other small areas lacking permanent population.

The Spanish position is that both Ceuta and Melilla are integral parts of the Spanish state, and have been since the 15th century, centuries before Morocco's independence from France in 1956.

In 2012 El Pais quoted unnamed Spanish military sources who said " The really expensive thing is maintaining Melilla, which also lacks any strategic interest, unlike Ceuta.

Spain is a country located in southwestern Europe, occupying most ( about 85 percent ) of the Iberian Peninsula and includes a small exclave inside France called Llívia as well as the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Western Atlantic Ocean off northwest Africa, and five places of sovereignty ( plazas de soberanía ) on and off the coast of north Africa: Ceuta, Melilla, Islas Chafarinas, Peñón de Alhucemas, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera.

The voting system used is that of proportional representation with closed party lists following D ' Hondt method in which the province forms a constituency or electoral circumscription and must be assigned a minimum of 2 deputies ; the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, are each assigned one deputy.

The autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla each elect 2 senators.

Ferry services operate regular routes to many ports in China and Asia, as well as the autonomous communities and cities of the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla.

The most important port and harbours are Algeciras, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao others: Cádiz, Cartagena, Ceuta, Huelva, A Coruña, Las Palmas, Málaga, Melilla, Gijón, Palma de Mallorca, Saguntum, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Los Cristianos ( Tenerife ), Santander, Tarragona, Vigo, Motril, Almería, Seville, Castellón de la Plana, Alicante, Pasaia, Avilés, and Ferrol.

Spain has a territorial dispute with Morocco concerning the five places of sovereignty ( plazas de soberanía ) on and off the coast of Morocco-the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco contests, as well as the islands of Peñon de Alhucemas, Peñon de Vélez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas.

Spain maintains sovereignty over Ceuta, Melilla, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, Alhucemas and the Chafarinas Islands ( captured following the Christian reconquest of Spain ) based upon historical grounds, security reasons and on the basis of the UN principle of territorial integrity.

Spanish public opinion is not generally aware of the Portuguese claim on Olivenza / Olivença ( in contrast to the Spanish claim on Gibraltar or the Moroccan claims on Ceuta, Melilla and the Plazas de soberanía ).

There are also two autonomous cities: those of Ceuta and Melilla.

Between 1979 and 1983, all the regions in Spain had been constituted as autonomous communities ; in 1996 the process was closed when the autonomous status of Ceuta and Melilla was passed.

* Following the uprising of other cities of the region ( Meknes, Sijilmassa ) under al-Massati, the population of Ceuta rebels against the Almohads.

Morocco had demanded the return of the Spanish cities Ceuta and Melilla along with several small rocks and islets off the coast of Morocco.

* Between northern Morocco and the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla lies a demilitarized zone.

* Mainland Spain as opposed to the Balearic and Canary Islands, the North African cities of Ceuta and Melilla, the island of Alborán and other minor exclaves on Northern Africa ( called the plazas de soberanía ).

Historically, a distinction was made between the so-called major sovereign territories, comprising the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and the minor sovereign territories, referring to a number of smaller enclaves and islands along the coast.

Morocco claims sovereignty over the Spanish North African territories, plus the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

Gil's political party, GIL, extended to other Costa del Sol towns like Estepona and even across the Strait of Gibraltar to the Spanish North African cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

Ceuta and Melilla are two Spanish cities on the North African coast.

In the autonomous Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla, however, the alcaldes-presidentes have greater powers than their peninsular colleagues.

Five cities are formally designated by their countries as autonomous: the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent ; the capital of Belgium, Brussels ; the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla ; and the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.

In January 2006, Istiqlal criticized Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's visit to the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the north African coast, reflecting its nationalist heritage.

Mauretania Tingitana was a Roman province located in northwestern Africa, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco and Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

In the above-mentioned elegy of Abraham ibn Ezra, which appears to have been written at the commencement of the period of the Almohads, and which is found in a Yemen siddur among the kinot prescribed for the Ninth of Ab, the Moroccan cities Ceuta, Meknes, the Draa River valley, Fez, and Segelmesa are especially emphasized as being exposed to great persecution.

In Spain there are two autonomous cities called Ceuta and Melilla.

The cities of Melilla and Ceuta and the lesser plazas de soberanía as well remained Spanish and are still garrisoned by Legion and Regulares units.

** Spain's two autonomous cities: Ceuta and Melilla, plus other minor territories ( plazas de soberanía )

This gallery of flags of the autonomous communities of Spain shows the distinctive flags of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain ( constitutionally they are the nationalities and regions in which Spain is territorially organized ), plus the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.