Ceuta and Melilla Shown as “Disputed Areas” with Morocco: Madrid Removes Map from Its Own Website

The controversy erupted just hours after the launch of Casa 47, the new property portal of the Spanish public company of the same name, presented on Monday by Pedro Sánchez.

On the visualizer, Ceuta and Melilla were separated from Morocco by dashed lines. This type of marking is commonly used on maps to indicate a border or territory subject to a dispute, notes El Independiente.

On Bladi.net : Spain officially toughens its tone: Morocco’s claims “degrade” relations

Yet the portal had just been launched by the Spanish government for an entirely different reason. Casa 47 is intended to showcase the new public stock of affordable housing, made up in particular of properties transferred from Sareb.

It was Sumar MP Alberto Ibáñez who publicly called for the visualizer to be removed. He accused the map of failing to respect the international status of Western Sahara and also submitted a question to the Spanish Congress.

The Map Disappears a Few Hours Later

The reaction was swift. A few hours after the portal went online, the map visualizer was removed. The rest of the Casa 47 website remains accessible.

According to El Independiente, the map was based on data from OpenStreetMap, a collaborative mapping platform.

The episode is nevertheless particularly sensitive given the current context between Madrid and Rabat. Spain has just reaffirmed that sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla would not be negotiated with Morocco.

On Bladi.net : “Until the End of Time” versus “Not a Centimeter”: Morocco and Spain’s Standoff over Ceuta

This is not the first time a map has caused a similar controversy in Spain. At the end of August, Orange Maroc had to announce the withdrawal of an advertisement showing Morocco with Western Sahara and without a clearly separating border around Ceuta and Melilla.

This time, the controversy is more embarrassing for Madrid: the disputed depiction appeared on the portal of a Spanish public company on the very day Pedro Sánchez was officially promoting it. A few hours were enough for it to disappear.