Station B /: The story of a separation
The history of the Spanish town Melilla and the Marroccan town Nador illustrates the historical entanglement of the African and the European continents.
Africa and Europe: Close historical connections
Even though most people today regard the separation of Europe and Africa as given, both regions are closely linked historically.
Melilla and Nador over time: Cross-border networking
In the 20th century. Above all, the protectorate shaped Spanish-Moroccan relations. Spanish colonial policy and Morocco’s economic dependence reinforced the close interconnectedness between Spain and Morocco and thus between Africa and Europe.
Labour migration and extended networks
From the 1960s onwards, some European countries, including the Federal Republic of Germany, recruited workers from Morocco in order to benefit from their lower wages. The intention was …
Recruitment ban and Europe’s closed door policy
As early as the beginning of the 1970s, intensified by the oil crisis in 1973, the recruitment of Moroccan workers in European countries was halted. This marks the beginning of a generally increasing restriction of freedom of travel for people from the region.