Ceuta and Melilla: Google Maps’ dotted lines that anger Spain

On Google Maps, Ceuta and Melilla are not separated from Morocco by a continuous gray line. Their land borders appear as dotted lines, the symbol used by the platform when several parties do not agree on the course or status of a territorial boundary.

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The representation was not changed after the recent migration crisis. It was already visible in 2020 and sparked a new controversy in 2023, when the Ceuta and Melilla Observatory publicly challenged Google’s cartographic choice.

The issue has nevertheless resurfaced in Spain at a time when sovereignty over the two cities has returned to the heart of current affairs. According to La Razón, Google uses this discontinuous line when “the parties have not reached an agreement regarding the border.”

A Border That Remains Disputed

Madrid considers Ceuta and Melilla to be fully part of Spain. Morocco, for its part, claims the two cities, considering them occupied territories that should regain their place within the Kingdom’s territorial integrity.

Google’s map obviously does not alter their current status. It does, however, give worldwide visibility to the existence of the dispute, unlike Spanish maps, which generally represent the separation from Morocco as an ordinary and definitively established international border.

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Google has not yet specified the exact date since which this treatment has been applied, nor why the two cities are classified in this way. Despite Spanish criticism, the platform therefore continues to show Ceuta and Melilla behind dotted borders.