L’ENCLAVE DI MELILLA: UN’AREA URBANA AI MARGINI DEL MEDITERRANEO

Abstract

The enclave of Melilla: an urban area on the edge of the Mediterranean. – The Autonomous City of Melilla as well as that of Ceuta, located on the edge of the Mediterranean, represents the only two land borders between Africa and Europe. Given the particular geographical position that covers the enclave, Melilla is considered as a peripheral territory of the European Union (Sánchez, 2022). The Spatial, cultural and linguistic conflicts are reflected in the urban geography of the enclave and in the division of the city’s neighborhoods. In districts I and II, located in the center of the city, the Spanish language and the Catholic religion are pre-dominant, while the presence of Muslims and the use of the Tamazight language, mainly characterized the peripheral districts of the cities belonging to districts III, IV and V; “Language is also a place of struggle” (hooks, 1998, p. 64). The aim of this work is to analyze the marginal role that the enclave plays between urban, linguistic and religious conflicts.