Ifni

Ifni, former North African enclave of Spain and now part of the southwestern region of Morocco along the Atlantic coast. An arid semidesert region of mountains and coastal plain, Ifni was first settled in 1476 by Diego García de Herrera, lord of the Canaries, as a fortified Spanish fishing, slaving, and trading locality called Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña. Abandoned in 1524 because of disease and Moorish hostility, it was reclaimed following a Spanish-Moroccan treaty in 1860. Effective Spanish reoccupation of the region, however, did not occur until 1934. The enclave became part of Spanish West Africa in 1946. Spain retained its claim to Ifni following Moroccan independence in 1956 and repelled a series of Moroccan attempts to take the territory in the Ifni War (1957–58). In 1958 Ifni was reorganized as a province under a governor-general. Spain ceded control of Ifni to Morocco in 1969. The predominantly Berber population is engaged in fishing and in the raising of sheep, camels, and goats. Ifni’s beaches attract some tourism. The area also produces oils extracted from the fruit of the argan tree and of the Barbary fig, a species of cactus. Sidi Ifni, the chief city, is a local handicrafts centre and small port, trading primarily with the Canary Islands.