Spanish Territorial Boundary Changes in Northwest Africa

Abstract

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, Paragraph 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. Elsewhere 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).