Plazas de soberanía

The plazas de soberanía are the Spanish sovereign territories in North Africa. These are separate pieces of land scattered along the Mediterranean coast bordering Morocco. The name refers to the fact that these territories have been a part of Spain since the formation of the modern Spanish State (1492–1556), and are distinguished from African territories obtained by Spain during the 19th and 20th century.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. In the present, the term refers mainly to the latter.