Spain in Morocco?

After we were allowed to leave our gracious host in Al Hoceima (see last post), we drove several hours along the beautiful coast and and entered Spain. What? Spain on the African continent? Yes, there are two cities in Morocco which are both Spanish protectorates. I used to wonder why Spain couldn't simply give up a little turf and hand over these two cities to Morocco. But when I arrived, it soon became obvious - after 500 years of Spanish possession, these cities cannot simply swap hands.

First, we drove through a very Moroccan town (Nador), then went through a complete international border crossing, and five minutes later we were in Spain. Besides the border crossing, what were some clues we were not in Morocco any more? Christmas lights! Lovely church bells (vs. the Muslim call to prayer), the most enormous nativity set I've ever seen (set into an entire wall of the castle), pork (Gerald ate his fill), couples holding hands, legs (as in miniskirts), and, wonder of wonders - cars that actually stop for (vs. try to hit) pedestrians!!! It was truly amazing to be so close to Morocco but yet so far!

I simply have to comment on the crosswalks in Melilla. Several times, we were not even ready to cross, but all the traffic stopped when we were in the vicinity. Then, with gaping open mouths, we put our VIT's (Very Important Toes) into the street and with continued amazement and deep gratitude, walked across the street without fearing for our lives. We never did get over this.

We met Ron, Laurie, Jasmine, Talia, Tamara, Nakoma and Melody there. Abir could not come because she does not have a passport yet. We all stayed in the home of someone who is gone for a few months (thankfully for them). As always, we had a marvelous time together.

Two pictures up is a shot of the old Spanish castle there which is literally built into the face of a cliff. At the base of the castle and behind Ron's crew is a huge arch - the top section is a lookout point from the lowest level of three stories of a fascinating maze of caves. This level even had a chapel in one of the caves which the Spanish used for prayer during attacks. Below the lookout balcony is a huge open cave that goes all the way down to the sea.

Here we are facing the cave in front of the arch.