Residents in the Spanish enclave of Melilla will this week celebrate the 250th anniversary of the actions of an Irish general who broke a siege on the city.
Waterford-born John Sherlock, known in Spanish as Juan, commanded the Spanish garrison when the Sultan of Morocco, Muley Mohamed Ben Abdal-Lah, leading 40,000 men, began the siege of Melilla with a view to storming it.
For 100 days, the city was subjected to heavy bombardments and clashes with the invading troops, who were repelled by the city’s few inhabitants. The siege continues until the morning of March 19th, 1775, when the sultan ordered an end to the operation.
Ever since, the residents of Melilla, which is completely surrounded by Morocco, have honoured Sherlock annually. This year there will be a 10 days of commemorations with an exhibition on the siege, tours and lectures on Sherlock’s life.
The association between the enclave and Ireland does not end there. There are three streets in Melilla named after generals with Irish heritage.
General Leopoldo O’Donnell, the descendant of the O’Donnell clan from Co Donegal who fled Ireland in the 17th century, won a battle in 1860 which confirmed Melilla’s status as a Spanish territory. Lieutenant Rafael Bermingham, the son of an Irish mother, was involved in the same battle.
Melilla, which is just over 12km square with a population in 2019 of 86,487, would seem to be an unlikely place for an Irish connection but it is one of the few places outside the English-speaking world that recognises St Patrick’s Day as a church holiday.
Additionally, Melilla has planned a special “Sherlock Route” for Saturday, March 29th, guiding participants through Melilla’s Irish street names, with bilingual explanations in English and Spanish, accompanied by musical performances.
Melilla and Ceuta, another Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast, have been the subject of centuries of tension between the Moorish population, later Morocco and Spain.
Spain insists that the enclaves have been Spanish since the 15th century and Morocco has no right to them. Somewhat ironically the same argument is used against Spain when it claims Gibraltar as Spanish territory though it has been British since 1714.
Like those in Gibraltar, residents of Melilla and Ceuta are strongly in favour of the status quo continuing.
In August 2018, Morocco closed the custom posts into both cities claiming they were being used to smuggle illegal goods into the country. In 2021, the Moroccan government allowed illegal migrants into Cueta in retaliation for the Spanish giving medical treatment to a guerrilla leader from their former colony of Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara), land which Morocco claims.
Relations between Spain and Morocco have improved but the two enclaves are on the frontline of illegal immigration between Africa and the EU and both are heavily fortified by fences.
There are fears in Spain that the status of Melilla and Ceuta is on US president Donald Trump’s radar and that he will recognise the enclaves as Morocco in this term.
In 2020, Trump angered the Spanish by unilaterally recognising Western Sahara as part of Morocco though large parts of the country are under control of the Polisario Front on the part of the Sahrawis.
Given his antipathy towards another Nato ally, Denmark, and his pursuit of Greenland, many commentators believe Trump could rile the Spanish further by siding with Morocco in the Melilla and Cueta dispute.
