| Page Views: 42 Last Visit to Melilla: June, 2009 | Melilla - A little piece of Spain in Africa by JulesH - last update: Jun 22, 2009 |
I came to Melilla mainly because a friend of mine lives there. His description of the town as a Spanish enclave in the north of Africa, surrounded by a border fence to keep out Moroccan refugees enthralled me! Most people outside of Spain have little idea where Melilla is, or the second such enclave, Ceuta. And few really care! It's not possible to catch a direct flight there from the UK, so this alone would make it overlooked by many run of the mill British tourists. But this was the thing that spurred me on most! A town which is essentially Spanish in all senses of the word, but not on the Spanish mainland, awash with influences from neigbouring Morocco. A multicultural land where Catholics, Muslims, Jews and Hindus all have an identity...and barely an English voice to be heard! I had to discover this place for myself... |
|  | A friendly welcome When we arrived in Melilla, we found little evidence of English being spoken, and found it hard to understand the local Spanish accent, but after a few days of "getting our ear in" we started to get the hang of it and found the town to be welcoming, friendly and only too happy to invite us into their lives. Rafael at the Taberna de Andaluza and his patrons gave us more than one night to remember! Even if our Spanish wasn't quite up to scratch, we made it through numerous conversations with a mixture of sign language, Spanglish and alcohol induced bravado! |
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| Pros: | "They really can't stop giving you free stuff here!" | | Cons: | "Corruption!" | | In A Nutshell: | "One trip is not enough" |
JulesH's Melilla Travel Tips
Comments for JulesH about Melilla | | | | |
aussirose Tue Jun 23, 2009 01:05 UTC Wow, what a great adventure Jules! :o) Your food tips are making me hungry!...oh and sounds like you had great fun doing Kareoke! :o) Good stuff!! Cheers, Ann. | planxty Mon Jun 22, 2009 15:26 UTC Julia, sounds like a bit of a wild night out, must give it a try. fergy. | balfor Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:16 UTC Hi Jules! Congrats on the new page. :-) I too have been slack in writing tips but have created a few for the Philippines so far. I had heard about these towns when I was in Marbella for the 2006 Euromeet and just didn't make it over there. :-( |
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