Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera
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{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}), also known as Hajar Badis (Template:Langx), is a Spanish exclave and rocky tidal island in the western Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Moroccan shore by a sandy isthmus, and to a smaller islet to the east, La Isleta, by a rocky isthmus. The tidal island was historically named Template:Transliteration (Rock of Badis), referring to its proximity to the town of Badis.
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, along with La Isleta, is a historic overseas possession known as a {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. It is administered by the Spanish central government<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and has a population consisting only of a small number of Spanish military personnel.
Its border with Morocco is Template:Convert long, making it the shortest international land border in the world.<ref name="Kühnhardt 2017">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Bosch March, C. (2024). From Melilla to Strasbourg: unpacking the Spanish inspiration in the ECtHR’s volte-face on Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 ECHR at the moroccan-spanish border. EuroMediterranean Journal of International Law and International Relations, pp. 6-7. https://doi.org/10.25267/Paix_secur_int.2024.i12.1202</ref> Morocco asserts a claim to the peninsula as part of its territory, alongside other Spanish plazas de soberanía in Northern Africa.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Geography
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is located Template:Convert southeast of Ceuta. It was a natural island in the Alboran Sea until 1930, when a huge thunderstorm washed large quantities of sand into the short channel between the island and the African continent. The channel was turned into a tombolo<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the island became a peninsula, connected to the Moroccan coast by an Template:Convert long sandy isthmus, which is the world's shortest single land-border segment.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Citation needed With a length of Template:Convert northwest-southeast and a width of up to Template:Convert, it covers about 1.9 ha (4¾ acres).
History
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Portugal and Spain passed an agreement in 1496 in which they effectively established their zones of influence on the North African coast. As a result, Spain could occupy territory only east of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. This restriction ended with the Iberian Union of Portugal and Spain in 1580 under Philip II after the 1578 Battle of Alcácer Quibir, when Spain started to take direct actions in Morocco, as in the occupation of Larache.<ref name="Kissling 1996">Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1508, Spain launched a successful expedition under the command of Pedro Navarro to take the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} located near Badis, held by pirates who were constantly attacking and looting the coast of southern Spain.
In 1522, Spain lost the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} to a Moroccan Berber attack that resulted in the deaths of the entire Spanish garrison. Ali Abu Hassun, the new Wattasid ruler of Morocco in 1554, then gave the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} to the Ottoman troops who had assisted him in gaining the throne.<ref name="Kissling 1996" />
The Ottomans used it as a base for corsairs operating in the region of the Strait of Gibraltar. The Sa'di sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib 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 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, which he handed over to the Spaniards. The Moroccan population relocated to the kasbah of Senada.<ref name="Colin 1986">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
In 2012, the territory was briefly assaulted by seven Moroccan activists belonging to the Committee for the Liberation of Ceuta and Melilla, whose leader was Yahya Yahya.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Government
{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is administered directly from Madrid.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
See also
- Former island
- List of Spanish colonial wars in Morocco
- List of islands of Spain
- Morocco–Spain border
- Plazas de soberanía
- Spanish Protectorate of Morocco
- European enclaves in North Africa before 1830
References
External links
- Spanish Autonomous Communities at WorldStatesmen.org
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