evidence: MELILLA spanish enclave on morocco's northeast coast. One of Spain's two remaining footholds on the African continent, the enclave of Mellila occupies approximately 7 square miles on the Guelaia Peninsula, near the city of Nador on Morocco's northeast Mediterranean coast. In addition to the town, there are also two groups of adjacent islands. A majority of the population of 69,000 are ethnically Spanish and Catholic; a substantial minority—about 40 percent—are Berber Muslims, most of whom have Spanish citizenship. In recent years, Melilla, like its companion Spanish enclave Ceuta, has attracted both Moroccans and black Africans seeking to immigrate illegally into Europe. Founded by the Phoenecians in the third century b.c.e., Melilla was occupied by Spain in 1497, one of several presidios established to protect the Spanish mainland. More territory was added to it after the 1860 war, and in 1861 it was made a free port. Morocco has never ceased to insist on the return of Melilla and Ceuta, but the two countries agreed in 1976 to shelve the dispute as part of their agreement on Western Sahara. In the mid-1990s, as Moroccan political life slowly revived, the status of Mellila and Ceuta became a prime national issue for the country's political parties. The Spanish parliament's approval of statutes of autonomy for the two enclaves in 1995 irked the Moroccans considerably.