Spatial Appropriations Over Europe’s Borderland: El Principe’s Growth as a Vestige of Colonial Urbanism

Abstract

My work investigates the spatial transformations generated by conflicting competencies in the border city of Ceuta, a Spanish exclave on the northernmost tip of Morocco. Due to its strategic location, Ceuta became the gateway to the Spanish Protectorate over Morocco. Its implemented masterplan was rooted in the colonial urbanizing strategy of social segregation; yet failed to encompass the entirety of the territory, rendering the border area a site for informal urban settlements. Spain’s 1986 accession to the EU granted the exclave a new role as an icon of Fortress Europe, hindering migration movements toward mainland Europe and, due to the municipality’s neglect of the multifarious stranded migrant groups, settlements ballooned into districts along the border checkpoints. This article investigates the spatial conflicts generated by the border and how these, in turn, shape the borderland. It examines how supra-national actors manipulate urban planning to establish dominance, ostracizing the border region, and studies whether migrants’ spatial practices can effectively disrupt their socio-spatial segregation. Focusing on the border district of El Principe, a twofold methodology is followed: A top-down perspective is built through mapping, examining historical masterplans, policy analysis, and interviews, and a bottom-up stance is included, grounded on participant observation and semi-structured interviews, revealing migrants’ spatial appropriation tactics.