evidence: Spain’s new interior minister has announced that dismantling barbed wire fences that separate the two Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla from Morocco is among his "main priorities". [...] When Morocco gained independence in 1956, following more than four decades of rule by Spain and France, Spain refused to include Ceuta and Melilla in the handover. [...] However, Morocco has made numerous claims to the territories since gaining independence. In 2002, the dispute turned violent after a small group of Moroccan soldiers set up camp on the Spanish-controlled Parsley Island, 200 metres off the coast of mainland Morocco. They were forcefully removed by the Spanish navy, in a clash that heightened tensions between the two countries.