RT report
T1 New narratives for the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla
A1 Valle Gálvez, José Alejandro del
A2 Derecho Internacional PúblicoPenal y Procesal
K1 Ceuta
K1 Melilla
K1 Territorial claims
K1 Spain
K1 Morocco
K1 Legal sovereignty titles
K1 European Union
K1 Democracy
K1 Human Rights
K1 Rule of Law
K1 European Values
K1 Democratic Security
K1 Geopolitics
K1 Strait of Gibraltar area
K1 European citizenship
K1 minorities
K1 Borders
K1 Customs
K1 Schengen
K1 Frontex
AB The discourse surrounding the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla needs to be strengthened, with new narratives that emphasise their status as democratic European societies. This paper presents new approaches to Spain’s narrative regarding the ‘Spanishness’ of Ceuta and Melilla, both on the domestic and international stages. At present the story is largely based on historical entitlements enshrined in the treaties negotiated with the Sultans between the 18th and 20th centuries, and on the respect for the principle of Spain’s territorial integrity. These arguments can be supplemented by new narratives that locate the cities of Ceuta and Melilla within Spain’s sovereign democracy, in the context of an axis of democratic European states in a non-democratic regional setting. This also involves delving deeper into the reality of the cities as multicultural democracies with full respect for the Council of Europe’s human rights and the basic democratic values of the EU, where a special role is assigned to the rule of law and the principles of tolerance, solidarity and structural equality between men and women. In this context, there is an obligation for Spain and the EU to safeguard the ‘democratic security’ of the autonomous cities and the 170,000 European citizens who consider them their home
PB REAL INSTITUTO ELCANO DE ESTUDIOS INTERNACIONALES Y ESTRATÉGICOS
SN 1696-3466
YR 2025
FD 2025-02-19
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/36679
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/36679
LA eng
NO New narratives for the Spanish cities of Ceuta and MelillaARI 24/2025 (English version) - 19/2/2025 - Elcano Royal Institute14 PAGEShttps://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/en/analyses/new-narratives-for-the-spanish-cities-of-ceuta-and-melilla/
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 11-nov-2026