August 1966.
Footage of an ITN News report on Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish outposts guarded by soldiers of the Spanish Foreign Legion.
Although small in size, the outposts continued to hold significance for the Francoist government of Spain as they represented the last vestiges of the Spanish Empire which had been severely corroded by defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898 and also were the base of Ejército de África (the Army of Africa) which played a key role in the rebellion against the Republican government and the subsequent Spanish Civil War in which the Nationalist forces commanded by General Francisco Franco (who was Supreme Commander of the Army of Africa) emerged victorious.
The Spanish outposts and the army was officially not welcome by neighbouring Morocco, but King Hassan of Morocco privately welcomed their presence as a form of insurance against a left-wing backed insurrection in his kingdom.
This is a excerpt from an ITN Report on August 3rd 1966, "Morocco: Spanish Foreign Legion Outposts".
Source of footage: Getty Images.
NB.
See also:
Spanish Foreign Legion | Legión Extranjera Española | Ceuta | August 1966
• Spanish Foreign Legion...
1. Now known as the Spanish Legion (Legión Española), it is now a Special Forces unit that functions as a Rapid Reaction Force.
2. It was created by Lt. Colonel José Millán-Astray in 1920 as the Spanish equivalent of the French Foreign Legion and was designed to serve within the old Army of Africa which under General Francisco Franco had been used to launch the military coup against the Republican government; a venture that led to the Spanish Civil War.
3. José Millán-Astray y Terreros ("El Glorioso Mutilado"), who as a general became one of the key figures of the early era of the Franco regime, was the mentor of Francisco Franco.