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Ifni was a Spanish province on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, south of Agadir and across from the Canary Islands. It had a total area of , and a population of 51,517 in 1964. The main industry was fishing. The present-day Moroccan province in the same area is called Sidi Ifni, with its capital in the city of the same name, but encompassing a much larger territory. Spain's presence in the area can be traced to a settlement called Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña, founded in 1476. After attacks by the Berbers, the Spanish decided to focus on colonising other areas of North Africa and abandoned the region. In the mid-19th century, when the European powers looked again to Africa for resources, Spain suddenly mooted an interest in its lost late medieval fortress in order to stake a claim to the southern part of Morocco. This served as a pretext for a short war with Morocco in 1859. The territory and its main town of Sidi Ifni were ceded to Spain by the Sultanate of Morocco on 26 April 1860, but there was little interest in this colonial acquisition until 1934, when the Governor-General of Spanish Sahara took up residence. The airport had become a crucial stopover for flights between the mainland and the Canary Islands, and in 1938 a commercial route was established by airline Iberia linking Seville, Larache, Sidi Ifni, Cape Juby and Gando in the Canaries. The origin of Ifni must be dated to 1934, after Colonel Osvaldo Capaz took possession of the area, on behalf of the Government of the Second Spanish Republic. At that time, there was only a small construction, an aduar called Amezdog, belonging to the El Mesti Kabyle of the Ait-Baamarani Berber tribe, and of which there are currently no remnants. Ifni's occupation took place after satisfactory contacts between Colonel Capaz and representatives of the population of the territory, with conversations carried out in Cape Juby on March the 27th of 1934. Then, on April 4, after receiving authorization from the Spanish Government, said colonel embarked on the Canalejas gunboat towards Ifni.

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