Chapter 2
Regional Context and Maritime
Governance
Juan Luis Suárez-de Vivero, Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Mateos, and
Rabia M’ Rabet-Temsamani
2.1 Introduction
The Alboran Sea’s physical and geopolitical characteristics are what make this
marine area generate governance structures that are both part of, and articulate,
interests and demands on scales ranging from the international-global to the local
levels, combining, as it does, immediate economic survival interests with conflicts of
global complexity. Despite the fact that the surface area of this sub-basin only
amounts to 3% of the Mediterranean Sea, the nature and complexity of the scenario
make it stand out as far as both multilateral and bilateral international relations are
concerned. A simple glance shows a combination of long-standing historical questions, such as territorial disputes on both shores and the extreme importance of
maritime trade, and some conspicuous peculiarities, including the presence of some
straits of great global importance, the convergence of vast economic disparities, and
(the consequent) emigration. Despite the most defining features of this sub-basin
(semi-confined waters, proximity of the two shores—and, at the same time, great
socio-economic inequalities—and the intensity of some high impact uses) also being
drivers of multilateral cooperation for the sake of more effective governance, the
immensity of the differences and disagreements is a powerful obstacle to coordinated and acutely complex actions.
Although the Mediterranean Sea as a whole already has a long tradition of
generating international cooperation instruments in maritime matters—the Mediterranean Action Plan was the first that was promoted under the United Nations
J. L. Suárez-de Vivero (*) · J. C. Rodríguez-Mateos
Departamento de Geografía Humana, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
e-mail: vivero@us.es; juancarlos@us.es
R. M’ Rabet-Temsamani
Universidad de Jaén, Jaén, Spain
e-mail: rmrabet@ujen.es
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. C. Báez et al. (eds.), Alboran Sea - Ecosystems and Marine Resources,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65516-7_2
11
Regional Context and Maritime
Governance
Juan Luis Suárez-de Vivero, Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Mateos, and
Rabia M’ Rabet-Temsamani
2.1 Introduction
The Alboran Sea’s physical and geopolitical characteristics are what make this
marine area generate governance structures that are both part of, and articulate,
interests and demands on scales ranging from the international-global to the local
levels, combining, as it does, immediate economic survival interests with conflicts of
global complexity. Despite the fact that the surface area of this sub-basin only
amounts to 3% of the Mediterranean Sea, the nature and complexity of the scenario
make it stand out as far as both multilateral and bilateral international relations are
concerned. A simple glance shows a combination of long-standing historical questions, such as territorial disputes on both shores and the extreme importance of
maritime trade, and some conspicuous peculiarities, including the presence of some
straits of great global importance, the convergence of vast economic disparities, and
(the consequent) emigration. Despite the most defining features of this sub-basin
(semi-confined waters, proximity of the two shores—and, at the same time, great
socio-economic inequalities—and the intensity of some high impact uses) also being
drivers of multilateral cooperation for the sake of more effective governance, the
immensity of the differences and disagreements is a powerful obstacle to coordinated and acutely complex actions.
Although the Mediterranean Sea as a whole already has a long tradition of
generating international cooperation instruments in maritime matters—the Mediterranean Action Plan was the first that was promoted under the United Nations
J. L. Suárez-de Vivero (*) · J. C. Rodríguez-Mateos
Departamento de Geografía Humana, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
e-mail: vivero@us.es; juancarlos@us.es
R. M’ Rabet-Temsamani
Universidad de Jaén, Jaén, Spain
e-mail: rmrabet@ujen.es
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. C. Báez et al. (eds.), Alboran Sea - Ecosystems and Marine Resources,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65516-7_2
11