Cape Juby (Cabo Juby) is a cape on the coast of southern Morocco, near the border with Western Sahara, directly east of the Canary Islands. Its surrounding area, called the Cape Juby Strip or Tarfaya Strip, while making up presently the far south of Morocco, makes up a semi-desert buffer zone between Morocco proper and the Western Sahara. The Strip was under Spanish rule as part of the Spanish protectorate in Morocco during the first half of the 20th century.
In 1912, Spain negotiated with France (which controlled the affairs of Morocco at the time) for concessions on the southern coast of Morocco. Francisco Bens officially occupied the Cape Juby region for Spain on July 29, 1916. It was administered by Spain as a single entity with Spanish Sahara and the Ifni enclave, as Spanish West Africa.
The Spanish area comprised 12,700 sq mi (33,000 km2) and had a population of 9,836.[citation needed] Its main town was founded by the Spanish as Villa Bens (now called Tarfaya). Villa Bens was used as a staging post for airmail flights.
When Morocco became independent in 1956, it requested the cession of Moroccan areas controlled by Spain. After some resistance and some fighting during 1957 (the Ifni War), the Spanish government in 1958 ceded the Cape Juby Strip to Morocco.
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