View from the border towards Ceuta and towards Morocco (Benzú).
Reciprocal
Developments
by Arjan Harbers and Kristin Jensen/ Topotronic Urbanism
Two case studies along the Spanish border
in Ceuta and Gibraltar about how borders
can accelerate spatial developments
Topotronic’s project Borderscapes researches the influences of national borders on spatial planning. The Borderscapes studies compare spatial influences and consequences of borders and describe their
physical appearance.
Two case studies on Borderscapes were carried out in Spain. The first
case, the border between the Spanish exclave Ceuta and Morocco, shows
the impact of the border on Ceuta’s spatial planning and how the developments on both sides of the border are being stimulated as well
as being blocked. The second case focuses on the old and established
border between the Spanish mainland and the British exclave Gibraltar.
Here the border has been a catalyst for developments in the Bay of
Gibraltar and the border dynamics have caused the development towards
an urban agglomeration of 250,000 inhabitants.
Gibraltar entrance to the city state via the runway.
Ceuta – Morocco
The borders at the mainland between Spain and Morocco have
demonstrated influence on spatial planning. The border is situated around the isthmus of Ceuta, a Spanish enclave of 28 km2
in Morocco with 76,000 inhabitants. The borderline is also an
external EU border line, and is therefore well-guarded on the
Spanish side. The natural border line follows two streams. There
are only two border crossings, both on the coast. One of these
is on the Atlantic Ocean near Benzú, where only pedestrians
from the neighbouring Moroccan village can pass at daytime in
order to work in Ceuta. The other larger border crossing is on
the Mediterranean Sea along the road to Fnideq. Almost 13,000
Moroccans pass the border to visit Ceuta on a daily basis.
Ceuta functions as an island. It has, just like the other Spanish islands, a 50% VAT reduction, which explains the concentrations of petrol stations near the ferry to Algeciras. Ceuta
is partly autarkic: it has its own water reservoirs, an electricity plant and a desalination plant. A water purification
plant is under construction at the moment. A helicopter service
to Malaga runs frequently.
Map of Ceuta
The Ceutan business park “Polygon Tarajal” for Moroccans,
just at the other side of the border. Moroccans go here to
change car tyres or buy alcoholic drinks.
Differences in legislations in the border area
Identifying Borderscapes in Ceuta is not so easy.
The financial, cultural and religious differences
between Spain and Morocco are evident and become
readily visible. These differences is not what the
Borderscapes study is looking for, however. The
Borderscapes studies focus on the irregular distribution of the built environment, caused by administrative borders. An example is the accumulation of
industrial functions like a scrapyard, a quarry and
a recycling-station within 200m of the Benzú border to Morocco. On the other side of the border the
Moroccans built a cemetery, that through its location on the slope of the valley, is only visible
from Ceuta.
The blue taxis waiting at the Morrocon
site of the Border, picking up passenger
that arrive by bus from Ceuta.
The large border crossing on the Mediterranean Sea has generated substantial informal economy. On the Spanish side, a
business area known as “Polygon Tarajal” is situated directly
on the border. It is a cross between a market and a wholesaler. Here Moroccans buy alcohol, amongst other products, and
have their car tyres exchanged. It is safe to assume that the
Polygon Taragal is located at the border so that the nuisance
it causes is at a safe distance from most urban Ceutan inhabitants.
The first big city after crossing the border is Fnideq (Los
Castillejos in Spanish). The inhabitants of Ceuta call it “El
Corte Ingles de Ceuta”, because Fnideq is Ceuta’s shopping
paradise, mostly consisting of goods with fake brand names.
Thanks to Ceuta’s proximity, Fnideq is growing steadily: from
53,000 inhabitants in 2005 to almost 57.000 in 2007.
A new quarter in boomtown Fnideq, just a
stone’s throw away from the Ceutan border.
Many of Ceuta’s inhabitants own homes in Morocco. A
lot of money, however, is being invested in the Bay
of Algeciras, since the people do not trust Ceuta’s
future as a Spanish enclave.
The influences of the border on Ceuta’s spatial
planning still remain unclear as yet. Some developments are being stimulated while others are being
blocked by the border situation.
The business area “Polygon
Tarajal” just at the Ceutan
side of the border
Ceuta, seen from the hills.
Bay of Gibraltar / Bay of Algeciras
The border line has been a catalyst for development in the Bay of Gibraltar,
which is called Bay of Algeciras by the Spanish. Thanks to reciprocal, the
bay has developed into an urban agglomeration of 250,000 inhabitants.
The original population chose to leave Gibraltar after an English-Dutch fleet
conquered the strategically situated rock in the year 1704. The population
of Gibraltar founded three new towns just a stone’s throw from Gibraltar in
the Bay, Los Algeciras, Los Barrios and San Roque. The new inhabitants that
came to live in Gibraltar were from Genoa, Portugal, England and Morocco.
Gibraltar now has 28,600 inhabitants; San Roque has 24,000 inhabitants, Los
Barrios 18,000 inhabitants and Algeciras 102,000 inhabitants.
On the Spanish side of the border, a Línear defensive fortification was constructed in the 18th century: La Línea de Contravalación de la Plaza de
Gibraltar. Behind this fortification is where the city La Línea de la Concepción originated - in short “La Línea” (now 60,000 inhabitants). La Línea
developed into a suburb of Gibraltar: many people who worked in Gibraltar
lived in La Línea. The border was closed by Spain until the 1950s, and the
4,600 Spanish commuters were no longer able to reach their work in Gibraltar. This was 1/3 of the working population at that time, resulting in a
high unemployment rate in La Línea. From then on, Gibraltar started recruiting cheap labour in Morocco.
Map of Gibraltar
An empty petrol station at the border in
La Linea, now used as a taxi parking.
In 1969, as a compensation for the unemployment and as
a provocation towards Gibraltar, the Spanish government, planned an oil refinery and a large industrial
plant in the Guadarranque nature reserve in the Bay of
Algeciras. This location was - from a planner’s point
of view – far from suitable, and furthermore it generated more employment than the region needed, causing a
growth in population in Algeciras. La Línea, however,
remained unaffected. Many people left for Great Britain, since they already spoke English. The number of
inhabitants almost halved from 100.000 to 60.000. The
city was left with a high crime rate and a high unemployment rate. After reopening the border for pedestrians in 1982 and for all traffic in 1985, La Línea
revived.
One of the tax-free shops along
Main Street in Gibraltar.
The Borderland
Nowadays the political situation relaxed. The level of prosperity
between Spain and Gibraltar is almost equal. 20.000 commuters and
tourists cross the border every day. Nevertheless, the border has
clear characteristics of a Borderscape. Provocations and boasting
have influenced the borderland on both sides.
First there is the airport of Gibraltar. Because the landing strip
is situated parallel to the border, the frontier has to be closed
temporarily as soon as airplanes land or take off. The airport only
has flight connections to London and Manchester. Spain does not allow flights to and from Gibraltar. Still, half of the noise disturbance is nevertheless experienced in Spain. Thanks to the tall radio antenna that Spain placed at the border, Gibraltarians are able
to listen to the Spanish radio, but their airplanes have to make
odd manoeuvres to be able to use the landing strip.
Furthermore, there used to be a neutral zone on the Spanish side of
the border which was, until recently, a no man’s land. This zone is
being developed into a park, leisure and residential zone, meant
to provoke Gibraltar. After all, Gibraltar’s 6.5 km2 is “full” and
Gibraltar needs to reclaim land from the sea in order to expand.
In front of the historic town, there is a reclaimed land from the
bay, where all new developments have taken place since the 1980’s.
The historic waterfront has disappeared. Soon new land reclamation
will take place at the East side of the peninsula.
A British (tax free) petrol station just before the border in Gibraltar.
Rules
Gibraltar is privileged compared to Spain and the United Kingdom,
because it can partly determine its own laws. In some aspects it
is autarkic. The difference in laws expresses itself in the spatial developments. Gibraltar has its own desalination plant, its
own airport and its own hospital. Thanks to advantageous tax tariffs and legislation, there is a high number of petrol stations,
jewellers, betting offices, banks (offshore banking) and retail of
alcohol, cheese, sugar and cigarettes. The combination of many nontransparent rules and the possibility for politicians to decide
quickly and flexibly on new demands, coupled with the current tax-
One of the tax-free shops along
Main Street in Gibraltar.
benefits (until 2010), makes Gibraltar an attractive breeding ground for companies.
A total of 30,000 companies have been registered - for a population of 28,000! On
the other hand, La Línea is attracting Gibraltarians because of its cheaper housing,
furniture sales, car repairs, vegetables and its market. The Spanish legislation is
more liberal concerning opening hours than the Gibraltarian legislation. On Friday
nights, many Gibraltarians cross the border to visit one of the many pubs or tapas
bars in La Línea.
The ports of Gibraltar and Algeciras do not really compete with each other. Because
of its status as a free port, Gibraltar cherry-picks the best functions like cruise
ships, a marina, dry-dock and bulk ships. Contrary to the rest of the EU, the port
of Gibraltar accepts ships without a double safety bottom. Algeciras is mainly a
container-port and a ferry-port with connections to Ceuta and Tangier.
One can conclude that the border has had a huge influence on the bay of Gibraltar.
The border situation has functioned as a catalyst for spatial and demographic developments. Without a border, one can assume that the Bay of Gibraltar would have been
part of the touristic Costa del Sol. Although there are tourists, the bay is better
characterized as an industrial and economic zone.
The refinery in Spain just constructed in 1960’s at this location
to spoil the Gibraltarians view and to compensate the Spanish
working places that were lost after closing the border.
Scale of Borderscapes
Borders influence the spatial economy on every scale. On the scale
of a private land, one can notice that compost heaps are usually
placed on the edge, to keep the smell away from the dwelling (and
as close as possible to the neighbour’s). On the scale of a nationstate one can notice nuclear power plants and heavy industry
in border regions for the same reason. Borderscapes are most visible at the border of small nation states, like city states. In the
case studies on Ceuta and Gibraltar we found a dense concentration
of Borderscapes. In the case of Gibraltar we saw an historic development of 300 years of Borderscapes that have settled down by
now. The developments in Ceuta are more recent and tenser due to
the larger differences in prosperity and cultures. As time passes,
Ceuta might develop in a similar way to Gibraltar.
Topotronic is a Brussels and Rotterdam based office for Urban Planning,
Urban Design und Urban Research. (www.topotronic.nl)
Arjan Harbers is an urban planner and researcher. After his graduation from
the Eindhoven University of Technology, he has worked for the MVRDV and
Dürig AG, amongst others. In addition to Topotronic, Arjan works for The
Netherlands Institute for Spatial Research and is lecturer on Urban Planning at EOI Madrid.
Kristin Jensen is an urban planner and architect. After her graduation from
the Technical University of Darmstadt, she has been working for several
offices in Latin America, Germany and the Netherlands.
Notes:
1 Harbers, A. Borderscapes in 2003, MUST (ed.) 2003, Euroscapes, Amsterdam
2 Melilla is another Spanish Enclave in Morocco, which is not taken into consideration in this study
Photo credits: All the photograph have been made by Arjan Harbers and Kristin Jensen
Many thanks to the people who we interviewed:
Victor Cobos (architect, La Línea), Paul Naughton and Paul Orilo (city administration, Gibraltar),
Pedro Lechuga (city administration, Algeciras), Antonio Saiz (city administration, Tarifa), Luis Modet (urban planner, San Roque), Javier Arnaiz (city administration, Ceuta)
The reclaimed land area in Gibraltar, as a result of the lack of extension possibilities.