SPAIN IN MOROCCO.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 21, 25 January 1936, Page 15

SPAIN IN MOROCCO.

CENTRE AT IFNI. A FLOURISHING COLONY. MADRID, December 20. 'J Colonisation is proceeding apace in the Spanish colony of Ifni, the zone of 0 approximately one thousand square r miles, which stands' isolated in the 3 southern portion of the French Protee--11 torate in Morocco and which, although d it has long belonged to Spain, was formally occupied last year by General y C'apaz, acting under the orders of Sr. a Lcrroux' Government. e Where there was only a Moorish r fortress there are now 600 houses and a population of 2000, of which 700 are ji Europeans, most of whom are Spanish y soldiers. n Ifni is an important centre now for - trade with the interior. About 1200 g tons of merchandise are landed each f month, every bit of which must be ] brought from the steamers by small surf d boats carrying from four to six hundredweights. „ There are no customs duties and, as | Spanish prices are cheaper than the g French equivalents for many goods to-day, there is apparently a brisk trade ' with natives from the neighbouring 8 French zone. r A Madrid newspaper reports how some articles sold in Ifni were recently identified in Egypt, bavins' crossed Africa in the course of bartering among desert r tribes. ■» < The fishing off Ifni is claimed to be T almost as rich as that of Newfoundland, and, according to figures published, French steam smacks take nearly half " a million lobsters annually from this ' coast. If the Spanish Government J builds a breakwater to permit easy 1 landing at Ifni, a Spanish firm intends - to set up a canning factory for fish, and 1 also to establish a fast service of small > motor vessels for the conveyance of - fresh fish to Spain. i There is an exchange problem, as the s Moors use silver coins known as "Hasani money," which is apparently a currency issued in the French zone of Morocco and withdrawn during the war and replaced by paper currency. The Moors, having learned well the lesson of thriftiness from their invaders, in large part hoarded the money and use it for trade among themselves, or with the Spaniards. Ifni can be. reached in about 30 hours by motor from Tangier. _ The weekly air mail service from Madrid to the Canary Isles passes over the new settlement, but does not halt.