Melilla is an autonomous city of Spain in North Africa. 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.

In addition to the enormous importance that the coexistence of the four cultures brings to the present of Melilla, we must not forget the privileged situation that the city historically maintained and that has preserved the important legacies that Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantines and Arabs left in the city. As if these legacies were not enough, Melilla has more than 900 modernist and art deco buildings. All this has turned Melilla into a unique architectural museum as diverse as it is exotic and different.

Melilla la Vieja or "El Pueblo", as the people of Melilla affectionately call it, and which many now also know by the name of La Ciudadela, comprises the fortified enclosure that began to be built in the 15th century on the rock that served as a seat for the ancient Rusadir of the Phoenicians and Romans, destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout history, as a result of the invasions of the Vandals and Arabs, or the internal struggles of the Berber tribes. This monumental complex is composed of four enclosures separated by a moat or cut. The first three go into the sea and the fourth on the continent. In this last one the Forts of the Rosary and of the Victories stand out, from where the shots of the cannon "El Caminante" that determined the present borders of Melilla were made.