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Banknotemaniac
Melilla (مليلة in Arabic, ⵎⵔⵉⵜⵙ in Riffian Berber) is
a 87,076
inhabitants autonomous city of Spain
located in the northwestern coast of Africa, bordering Morocco. It's situated in Cape Three Forks by the Alboran Sea, part of the Mediterranean Sea. The population has mixed Catholic
Christian and Muslim traditions (having a small number of Sephardic Jews too) and the
official language is Spanish (although Riffian Berber is quite spoken too).
How do I arrive to Melilla?
Melilla is connected to Spain via Andalusia, although it's a bit expensive to arrive here.
- Plane: there are national flights to Melilla Airport from the main cities of Spain such as Málaga (aprox. 10 minutes), Seville, Madrid, Valencia or Barcelona.
- Boat: boats depart and arrive to Melilla reaching Almería (aprox. 6.5 hours), Motril (aprox. 5 hours) or Málaga (aprox. 8 hours).
- Car: the only possible way to access Melilla from Morocco is by car. Melilla can be reached by road from places such as Nador (aprox. 30 minutes), Midar (aprox. 1 hour 50 minutes), Berkane (aprox. 2 hours), Taourirt (aprox. 2 hours 10 minutes), Al Hoceima (aprox. 2 hours 20 minutes) or Fez (aprox. 4 hours 10 minutes).
History
The city of Melilla traces its history back to the establishment of Phoenician merchants in the 7th century BC. With the Punic decadence, Rusadir became part of the kingdom of Mauretania and then it was incorporated into the Roman province of Mauritania Tingitana in the year 42 AD, named by then as Rusadir. After the arrival and conquer of the area by the Arabs, a war between the cities of Fez and Tremecen causes the population of Rusadir to abandon the already ruins of Melilla. The territory remained abandoned until the 10th century, when it was recovered by Abd al-Rahman III, creating the Taifa of Melilla that became integrated into the Caliphate of Córdoba. The expansion of the Portuguese and Castilians in the north of the Kingdom of Fez during the 15th century culminated with the entry of Pedro de Estopiñán in 1497. Then Melilla became dependent of the Duchy of Medina Sidonia and from 1556, of the Spanish crown. In 1774 Sultan Mohamed ben Abdallah intended to expel Christians from the north coast of Africa (both Ceuta and Melilla) and the siege of Mellilla began, lasting one year. In 1860, with the Treaty of Wad-Ras (signed by Queen Elizabeth II of Spain and Mohammed IV of Morocco), the border limits of the city were established. During the last third of the 19th century and the first of the 20th century, Melilla was the scene of intermittent confrontations that led to the conflict of the Moroccan War. The successive battles of Barranco del Lobo (1909) and Annual (1921) caused by the Africanist policy of King Alfonso XIII, caused a great impact on Spanish public opinion and forced the military alliance between Spain and France that allowed the constitution of the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco (having very positive effects on the economy of Melilla, which became the economic capital of the eastern part of the protectorate). It was in Melilla where the first events of the 1936 military uprising against the Second Republic, which triggered the Spanish Civil War and the establishment of the Franco regime in the country. In 1985, thousands of Moroccans living in the city were granted Spanish nationality. Melillas was until 1995 was a region of the province of Malaga, getting then the status of an autonomous city.
What can I visit in Melilla?
Melilla has a nice Old Town, known as Melilla La Vieja, a large fortress built during the 16th and 17th centuries that contains many of Melilla's most important historical sites. One of the main squares in the city is Plaza de España.
These are Melilla's main attractions:
Baluarte de la Concepción Alta: 50 m high tower that comes from the Romanesque period, originally installed in another church which was demolished in 1530, but was rebuilt in the 19th century. Here it's located the Historical Military Museum of Melilla (10-14 Tue-Sun; free), a small museum permanent exhibition, in which military uniforms, models, dioramas, mistresses of all kinds are exhibited; highlighting an Enigma machine, and a saddle of Isabel II and in the high temporary samples, with cannons and mortars on artillery sites.
Baluarte de la Concepción Alta - Purísima Concepción Church: 16th century church that is considered BIC, being the oldest church in all Melilla. Its façade is austere but has the venerated
Purisima Concepción Church
in Semana Santa
16th century image of Nuestra Señora de la Victoria in the main altarpiece and other Baroque altarpieces in the interior too. - Melilla Museum (10-14 and 16-20 Tue-Sat; free): museum with a collection of parts and material resulting from local excavations that is placed in Almacén de la Peñuelas, a former 18th century warehouse.It has an ethnographic section dedicated to Sephardic Jews, gypsies and Berber people.
- Galápagos Beach: popular beach located near the old town of Melilla. It has the Blue Flag certification, as well as Cárabos Beach and Hípica Beach, other nice beaches in Melilla.
- The city has a series of buildings in ecclectic style that were built in the beginning of the 20th century due to the economic boom of the city,
mainly situtated around Calle López Moreno and Calle del Rey Juan Carlos. This area of Melilla, known as Melilla La Nueva, is regarded as one of the best ensanches in Spain, and Melilla is the 2nd city in Spain with most Art Nouveau buildings (behind Barcelona). Some of the most impressing ones Redacción de El Telegrama del Rif (Art Nouveau building designed for the newspaper El Telegrama del Rif, voted as the 8th most beautiful Art Nouveau building in Spain), Antiguo Economato Militar (ecclectic style building, regarded as one of the nicest buildings in Melilla),
Redación de El Telegrama del Rif
Casa de David J. Melul (building that is one of the highlights of floral Art Nouveau in Melilla), Grandes Almacenes La Reconquista or Edificio de la Cámara Oficial de Comercio, Industria y Navegación de Melilla; all these buildings have been designed by Enrique Nieto y Nieto. Other nice buildings are the Art Deco buildings of Melilla Assembly Palace (building by Enrique Nieto y Nieto, home of the local parliament of Melilla), Edificio Rojo or Monumental Cinema Sport.
Casa de David J. Melul - Hernández Park: Modernist style park, considered the main one in Melilla, by Plaza de España. It was built in 1902 on the old bed of the Río de Oro.
Yamín Benarroch House - Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Church: Neo-Romanesque style church built in 1918 by Fernando Guerrero Strachan (repared by Enrique Nieto y Nieto in 1927), part of BIC list.
- Yamín Benarroch House: house built in Moorish Revival style in 1924 by Enrique Nieto y Nieto that was declared BIC. It was built for Yamín Benarroch family, hosting their family on the ground floor and on the first floor is the main Jewish temple in Melilla, Or Zaruah Synagogue.
- Central Mosque of Melilla: mosque built in Moorish Revival style in the 1940s by Enrique Nieto y Nieto. The monument is declared BIC and on the ground floor there are shops and a Turkish bath.
Another of the mosques in Melilla is Buen Acuerdo Mosque, a temple from the late 1920s. It was the first mosque built in Spain since the Reconquista.
Central Mosque of Melilla - Egyptian Museum of Melilla (): museum that introduce the visitor to the archaeological missions sponsored by the Gaselec Foundation in Egypt, one of the only 3 of its kind in Spain. Some of its highlights are a sarcophagus of Querta, a funeral stele from the end of the 4th century BC, a statuette of the God Amun-Ra, and some terracottas with cuneiform writing.
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