Spain Challenges Google Maps Over Disputed Ceuta and Melilla Borders

According to Google Maps, Ceuta and Melilla are "conflict" territories. The application draws the borders of the two autonomous cities with Morocco in dotted lines, taking them for disputed territories like the Sahara. Professor Carlos Echeverría, director of the Observatory of Ceuta and Melilla, has just sent a letter to Fuencisla Clemares, general manager of Google Spain, to request a correction of these outlines, reports Vozpopuli.

"I wanted to point out to you that the presentation made on your Google Maps platform of Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish territories in North Africa, as well as the rocks of Vélez de la Gomera and Al Hoceima and the Chafarinas Islands, is incorrect, because the border between the two autonomous cities and Morocco is represented by a dotted line," explains Carlos Echeverría in his letter.

And to add: "It is also important to emphasize that this error affects not only the international borders of the Kingdom of Spain, but also the external borders of the European Union (EU). It is therefore doubly urgent that this error be corrected to avoid any unnecessary confusion." In a 2021 report, the Observatory had denounced Morocco’s "hybrid strategy" on Ceuta and Melilla, with a view to their annexation.

The Google Maps affair comes in a particular context, marked by incessant claims by Morocco on Ceuta and Melilla. The President of the Moroccan Senate had declared in May that the kingdom would eventually "recover" the two presidios. In a recent letter addressed to the European Commission, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs also described Ceuta and Melilla as "Moroccan cities".