Mar Chica
Coordinates: 35 ° 10 ′ 0 ″ N , 2 ° 56 ′ 0 ″ W.
The Mar Chica (Spanish for "small sea") is a salt water lagoon with an area of approx. 80 km². It is located on the Mediterranean coast of the province of Nador in northern Morocco and separates the provincial capital Nador from the sea. Other names are "Lagune von Nador", Sebkha bou Areq ( Arabic ) or Rbhar Amezyan ( tamazight ).
geography
location
The lagoon with no inflow and a maximum depth of 8 m is located a few kilometers southeast of the Spanish exclave Melilla . An approx. 20 km long spit separates the semicircle of the lagoon from the open Mediterranean; apart from an opening of 120 m, it consists of two strips of sand:
- Boukana , with 10 km in length, in the northwest and
- al-Jazīra ( Arabic الجزيرة, DMG al-Ǧazīra ; "The island"), with a length of 12.5 km, in the southeast.
places
On Mar Chica are the cities of Nador in the southwest, Beni Ansar or Aït Nsar , which borders Melilla , in the northwest and Kariat Arekmane in the east.
nature
The Nador Lagoon is listed as a wetland of international importance in the Ramsar Convention .
economy
The lagoon is known for fishing and aquaculture ; it is of central importance for the Marchica tourism project , which was started in 2008.
history
Reef war
During the Spanish protectorate , the Mar Chica was used as an air base for seaplanes (Base de Hidroaviones del Atalayón) . For the use of chemical weapons in the Rif War , the Spanish Air Force had purchased Dornier “Wal” seaplanes . In Mellila, to the north, mustard gas was filled into bombs and then brought to the seaplanes stationed here. From here, the Rif Republic was bombed by Hugo Stoltzenberg following a strategy of contamination .
Spanish Civil War
In early July 1936, the Atalayón air base was under the command of Capitán Virgilio Leret Ruiz (born August 23, 1902). Leret was loyal to the republic and on July 17, 1936 resisted the putschists for hours. Two Tabor battalions of the Regulares eventually took the air base and murdered Leret on July 23, 1936.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mar Chica - photo + information
- ↑ Mar Chica - Video
- ↑ Rudibert Kunz, Rolf-Dieter Müller , poison gas against Abd el Krim Germany, Spain and the gas war in Spanish-Morocco 1922-1927 pdf ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Héroes de la II República Española, Virgilio Leret Ruiz .
- ↑ El País 07/18/2006, Melilla, la primera batalla
