The Spanish-Russian relations in the 20th century had a colonial dimension, which remains understudied. Spain acquired new lands with the active participation of the Russian Empire. St. Petersburg closely followed the conference in Algeciras in 1906, that gave Madrid rights to claim a part of Morocco. After the Second World War, Francoist Spain, despite the beginning of decolonization, tried to gain a foothold in its few possessions, namely Northern Morocco, Sahara, Ifni, Guinea. This process was facilitated both by Madrid’s policy of economic self-sufficiency and ideology. The metropolis tried to compensate for the trade restrictions that it faced in the 1940s and 1950s at the expense of its overseas possessions. They were caused first by global conflicts and later by the international isolation in which Spain found itself as a country that had close relations with the Axis states. The colonies remained a symbol of Spanish prestige. The Soviet Union, true to its principles, advocated the liberation of the oppressed peoples and actively contributed to decolonization. At the same time, decolonization provided points of convergence for Moscow and Madrid. Thus, since 1967, the Soviet Union began to support UN resolutions demanding the decolonization of Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory.
USSR; Russia; сolonies; Gibraltar; Morocco; protectorate; Francoism.