Spanish West Africa (Spanish: África Occidental Española) is a former possession in the western Sahara Desert that Spain ruled after giving much of its former northwestern African possessions to Morocco. It was created in December 1946, and combined Ifni, Cape Juby and Spanish Sahara.
The first Spaniard arrived in western Africa at the end of the Middle Ages. The very first may have been the Balearic traveler Jaume Ferrer who disappeared in 1375 on the journey off the African coast, or one of the Castilians who landed at Boujdour in 1405 and attacked a caravan there.
1885-1901 Emilio Bonelli Hernando - Royal Commissioner, deputy governor of the Canary Islands from 1887
1901-1903 Ángel Villalobos - deputy governor of the Canary Islands, governor of Río de Oro from 1901
1903-1925 Francisco Bens Argandoña; - governor of Río de Oro
1925-1932 Guillermo de la Peña Cusi - governor of Río de Oro
1932-1933 Eduardo Canizares Navarro - governor of Río de Oro
1933-1934 José González Deleito - governor of Río de Oro
1934-1936 Benigno Martínez Portillo - governor of Río de Oro (serving the High Commissioner of Morocco)
1936 Carlos Pedemonte Sabin - governor of Río de Oro (serving the High Commissioner of Morocco)
1936-1937 Rafael Gallego Sainz - governor of Río de Oro (serving the High Commissioner of Morocco)
1937-1940 Antonio de Oro Pulido - governor of Río de Oro (serving the High Commissioner of Morocco)
1940-1949 José Bermejo López - governor of Río de Oro (serving the High Commissioner of Morocco), Governor General of Spanish West Africa, High Commissioner and governor of Río de Oro from 1946
1949-1952 Francisco Rosaleny Burguet - Governor General of Spanish West Africa (serving the High Commissioner of Morocco) a governor of Río de Oro
1952-1954 Venancio Tutor Gil - Governor General of Spanish West Africa (serving the High Commissioner of Morocco) a governor of Río de Oro)
1954-1957 Ramón Pardo de Santallana Suárez - Governor General of Spanish West Africa (serving the High Commissioner of Morocco) a governor of Río de Oro
1957-1958 Mariano Gómez Zamalloa y Guirce - Governor General of Spanish West Africa (serving the High Commissioner of Morocco until 1956) a governor of Río de Oro
1958 José Héctor Vázquez - Governor General of Spanish Sahara
1958-1961 Mariano Alonso Alonso - Governor General of Spanish Sahara
1961-1964 Pedro Latorre Alcubierre - Governor General of Spanish Sahara
1964-1965 Joaquín Agulla Jiménez Coronado - Governor General of Spanish Sahara
1965 Adolfo Artalejo Campos - Governor General of Spanish Sahara
1965-1967 Ángel Enríquez Larrondo - Governor General of Spanish Sahara
1967-1971 José María Pérez de Lema Tejero - Governor General of Spanish Sahara
1971-1974 Fernando de Santiago y Díaz de Mendívil - Governor General of Spanish Sahara
1974-1976 Federico Gómez de Salazar y Nieto - Governor General of Spanish Sahara
