[OSM-talk] Fwd: Fix maritime borders of Ceuta and Melilla (Spain)

[Andy Townsend]

On 03/02/2021 10:44, Andrew Davidson wrote:
>
> The Spanish law says that in the absence of an agreement with another 
> country, their territorial sea shall not extend beyond the median line:
>
> https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/LIS149-Spain.pdf
>
> Moroccan law also has the same arrangement:
>
> https://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/MAR_1973_Act.pdf 
>
>
> As there is no agreement between the two countries it would appear 
> that they both think the boundary is the median line. However Morocco 
> amended their law last year:
>
> https://www.moroccoembassy.co.za/morocco-in-the-news/260-morocco-updates-its-maritime-legislation-to-un-standards 
>
>
> Details in English are sparse (they haven't sent the required paper 
> work to the UN yet), but the changes appear to be about their Atlantic 
> maritime boundaries.
>
Thanks Andrew.

I was waiting here just in case anyone posted another point of view, and 
no-one has.  Unfortunately the US document (which describes the Spanish 
point of view) says "The Kingdom of Spain also includes its exclaves 
located on the northern coast of Africa, which are beyond the scope of 
this study".  It does, however, describe what Spain does elsewhere, 
which is presumably a "general intent".  As you say, the Moroccan 
article 2 ("In the absence of a specific agreement on the subject, the 
breadth of the territorial waters shall not extend beyond a median line 
every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the 
baselines of the Moroccan or adjacent coasts") is clearer.

Does anyone see a problem with the "median line" approach?

If not, does anyone fancy volunteering to actually make the change?  
It'd need to be someone familiar with boundary editing, which probably 
means familiarity with JOSM's "validator" to check that the resulting 
boundaries are both valid multipolygons and match the documentation 
above.  If not, I can do it, but it might take a bit longer.

Best Regards,

Andy (from the DWG)