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What happened during the Spanish landing at Alhucemas Bay in September 1925?

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Spanish soldiers operate artillery cannons in a desert landscape near Melilla, with smoke billowing as a cannon fires during a 1930s battle. — Rif War Spanish artillery firing outside Melilla during the Rif War.

In September 1925, as part of a coordinated joint offensive with France to suppress the Rif War, Spain executed a major military operation at Alhucemas Bay. During this landing, the Spanish military deployed approximately 18,000 troops.1

This maneuver was part of a larger strategic alliance between Spain and France, which had been prompted by Abd el-Krim’s expansion into the French protectorate earlier that year. While the Rifian forces offered fierce resistance, they were significantly outnumbered by the combined Spanish and French forces, which totaled nearly 40,000 soldiers against a maximum of 13,000 Rifian fighters. The overwhelming manpower and superior military technology utilized during this offensive ultimately led to the collapse of the Republic of the Rif by the spring of 1926.1