(; ) is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

and rocky

tied island Tied islands, or land-tied islands as they are often known, are landforms consisting of an island that is connected to mainland or another island only by a tombolo: a spit of beach materials connected to land at both ends. St Ninian's Isle i ...

, in the western

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

, connected to the Moroccan shore by a sandy

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

. It is also connected to a smaller islet to the east, La Isleta, by a rocky isthmus. The tied island was named ' (Rock of Badis) and was connected to the town of Badis. , along with La Isleta, is a premodern overseas possession known as a . It is administered by the Spanish central government and has a population consisting only of a small number of Spanish military personnel. Its border with Morocco is long, making it one of the shortest international borders in the world.

Geography

is located southeast of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territori ...

. It was a natural island in the

Alboran Sea The Alboran Sea (from Arabic , ''al-Baḥrān'') is the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between the Iberian Peninsula and the north of Africa (Spain on the north and Morocco and Algeria on the south). The Strait of Gibraltar, w ...

until 1934, when a huge

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...

washed large quantities of sand into the short channel between the island and the African continent. The channel was turned into a

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island becom ...

and the island became a peninsula, connected to the Moroccan coast by an long sandy

, which is the world's shortest single land-border segment. With a length of northwest-southeast and a width of up to , it covers about 1.9 ha (4¾ acres).

History

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

passed an agreement in 1496 in which they effectively established their zones of influence on the

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

n coast. As a result, Spain could occupy territory only east of . This restriction ended with the

Iberian Union pt, União Ibérica , conventional_long_name =Iberian Union , common_name = , year_start = 1580 , date_start = 25 August , life_span = 1580–1640 , event_start = War of the Portuguese Succession , event_end = Portuguese Restoration War , ...

of Portugal and Spain under Philip II after the 1578

Battle of Alcácer Quibir The Battle of Alcácer Quibir (also known as "Battle of Three Kings" ( ar, معركة الملوك الثلاثة) or "Battle of Wadi al-Makhazin" ( ar, معركة وادي المخازن) in Morocco) was fought in northern Morocco, near the t ...

, when Spain started to take direct actions in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

, as in the occupation of

Larache Larache ( ar, العرايش, al-'Araysh) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast, where the Loukkos River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Larache is one of the most important cities of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region. Man ...

. In 1508, Spain launched a successful expedition under the command of

Pedro Navarro Pedro Navarro, Count of Oliveto (c. 1460 – 28 August 1528) was a Navarrese military engineer and general who participated in the War of the League of Cambrai. At the Battle of Ravenna in 1512 he commanded the Spanish and Papal infantry, but w ...

to take the ' located near Badis, held by

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s who were constantly attacking and looting the coast of Southern Spain. In 1522, Spain lost the ' to a Moroccan Berber attack that resulted in the deaths of the whole Spanish garrison.

Ali Abu Hassun Ali Abu Hassun (), also Abu al Hasan Abu Hasun or Abu Hasun, full name Abu al-Hasan Abu Hasun Ali ibn Muhammad (died September 1554), was a Regent of the Crown of Morocco for the Wattasid dynasty, during the 16th century. Life In 1545, he succ ...

, the new

Wattasid The Wattasid dynasty ( ber, Iweṭṭasen; ar, الوطاسيون, ''al-waṭṭāsīyūn'') was a ruling dynasty of Morocco. Like the Marinid dynasty, its rulers were of Zenata Berber descent. The two families were related, and the Marinids ...

ruler of Morocco in 1554, then gave the ' to Ottoman troops who had assisted him in gaining the throne. The Ottomans used it as a base for corsairs operating in the region of the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

. The Sa'di sultan

Abdallah al-Ghalib Abdallah al-Ghalib Billah (; b. 1517 – d. 22 January 1574, 1557–1574) was the second Saadian sultan of Morocco. He succeeded his father Mohammed al-Shaykh as Sultan of Morocco. Biography Early life With his first wife Sayyida Rabia, M ...

was alarmed by this activity, fearing that the Ottomans might use the town of ''Badis'' as a base from which to undertake the conquest of Morocco. In 1564, he forced the Moroccans to evacuate the town and the ', which he handed over to the Spaniards. The Moroccan population retired to the

kasbah A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term ''alca ...

Senada Senada is a small town and rural commune in Al Hoceïma Province of the Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate region of Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It ...

. In 2012, the territory was assaulted by a group of Moroccan activists belonging to the

Committee for the Liberation of Ceuta and Melilla The Committee for the Liberation of Ceuta and Melilla (CLCM) was a Moroccan irredentist organisation focused on Spain's ''plazas de soberanía''. It was based on the irredentist idea of Greater Morocco. History The Committee for the Liberation ...

, whose leader was

Yahya Yahya Yahya Yahya (born March 9, 1967) is a Moroccan politician and a fugitive from Spanish justice for having been accused of ill-treatment in politics in Morocco. He was a Senate of Morocco, senator of the kingdom of Morocco and former mayor of Beni ...

Government

is governed by direct rule from

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Transportation

The territory is reached primarily by helicopter via a helipad located on the upper sections. A landing area is located on the south end near the land entrance to .

References

External links