Melilla

Melilla
Mřič
Aerial view
Location of Melilla in Spain
Coordinates: 35°17′32″N 2°56′27″W / 35.29222°N 2.94083°W / 35.29222; -2.94083
CountrySpain
Government
  Mayor-PresidentJuan José Imbroda (PP)
Area
  Total
12.3 km2 (4.7 sq mi)
  Rank19th
Population
 (2024)
  Total
85,985
  Rank18th
  Density7,000/km2 (18,000/sq mi)
   Rank1st
  % of Spain
0.16%
DemonymsMelillan
GDP
  Total€1.750 billion (2023)
  Per capita€20,479 (2023)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code
ES-ML
Official languagesSpanish
Statute of Autonomy14 March 1995
ParliamentAssembly of Melilla
Congress1 deputy (of 350)
Senate2 senators (of 264)
CurrencyEuro () (EUR)
HDI (2022)0.867
very high · 18th
Websitewww.melilla.es

Melilla (/mɛˈljə/, Spanish: [meˈliʝa] ; Tarifit: Mřič) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of 12.3 km2 (4.7 sq mi). It was part of the Province of Málaga until 14 March 1995, when the Statute of Autonomy of Melilla was passed.

Melilla is one of the special territories of the member states of the European Union. Movements to and from the rest of the EU and Melilla are subject to specific rules, provided for inter alia in the Accession Agreement of Spain to the Schengen Convention.

As of 2019, Melilla had a population of 86,487. The population is chiefly divided between people of Iberian and Riffian extraction. There is also a small number of Sephardic Jews and Sindhi Hindus. Melilla features a diglossia between the official Spanish and Tarifit.

Like the autonomous city of Ceuta and Spain's other territories in Africa, Melilla is subject to an irredentist claim by Morocco.