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14-513: A peñón is as a mountain surrounded by water, usually by the sea. Among the most famous is the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera , off the coast of Morocco , still a Spanish territory to this day. There is also the Peñón de Alhucemas nearby. The Peñón of Algiers ( Peñón de Argel ) was established in 1510, when the Spaniards settled on a small island in front of Algiers (modern Algeria ), and forced

28-470: A stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Pe%C3%B1%C3%B3n de V%C3%A9lez de la Gomera Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera ( Spanish pronunciation: [peˈɲon de ˈβeleθ ðe la ɣoˈmeɾa] ; Arabic : حجر بديس , romanized :  Hajar Badis ) is a Spanish exclave and rocky tidal island in the western Mediterranean Sea connected to the Moroccan shore by a sandy isthmus . It

42-512: A naval base. It had some importance under the Marinid sultan Abu Said ( r.  1310–1331 ) and paid the same taxes—1000 dinars —as Melilla and Larache . Badis had an arsenal and shipyards. The population engaged in fishing and piracy and was the seat of the governor of the Rif that embraced the entire coast and some inland tribes (Bukkuya, Banu Mansur, Banu Khalid, Banu Yadir). In his visit to

56-467: A small number of Spanish military personnel. Its border with Morocco is 80 m (260 ft) long, making it one of the shortest international borders in the world. Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera is located 119 km (74 mi) 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

70-454: Is also connected to a smaller islet to the east, La Isleta, by a rocky isthmus. The tidal island was named Hajar Badis (Rock of Badis) and was connected to the town of Badis . Vélez de la Gomera , along with La Isleta, is a premodern overseas possession known as a plaza de soberanía . It is administered by the Spanish central government and has a population consisting only of

84-456: The peñón located near Badis , held by pirates who were constantly attacking and looting the coast of southern Spain. In 1522, Spain lost the peñón 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 peñón to the Ottoman troops who had assisted him in gaining

98-605: The North African coast. As a result, Spain could occupy territory only east of Peñón de Vélez . 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 . In 1508, Spain launched a successful expedition under the command of Pedro Navarro to take

112-523: The kasbah of Senada . 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 . Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera is governed by direct rule from Madrid . The territory is reached primarily by helicopter via a helipad located on the upper sections. A landing area is located on

126-642: The island and the African continent. The channel was turned into a tombolo and the island became a peninsula, connected to the Moroccan coast by an 85 m (279 ft) long sandy isthmus , which is the world's shortest single land-border segment. With a length of 400 m (1,300 ft) northwest-southeast and a width of up to 100 m (330 ft), it covers about 1.9  ha (4¾ acres). Portugal and Spain passed an agreement in 1496 in which they effectively established their zones of influence on

140-400: The local ruler Sālim al-Tūmī (Selim-bin-Teumi) to accept their presence through a treaty and pay tribute. This article about Spain's autonomous north African cities or Plazas de soberanía is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Spanish history –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This military base or fortification article is

154-685: The south end near the land entrance to Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera . Badis (town) Badis was a town in Morocco , 110 km southeast of Tétouan , between the territory of the Ghomara and the Rif ; the Banu Yattufat (Ait Yitufut) live in the area. Badis was part of the Kingdom of Nekor , and after the Idrisids , Almoravids , Almohads , and Marinids ; the last three dynasties used it as

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168-612: The throne. 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 peñón , which he handed over to the Spaniards. The Moroccan population retired to

182-461: The town, Leo Africanus described it as having 600 households. About 100 meters, there are two rocky islets, the largest called Hajar Badis , which the Spaniards call Peñón de Vélez , and which they occupied in 1508 , an occupation that lasted until 1520. In 1526 the Wattasid sultan Abu Hassun , dethroned by his brother, received as a feud the Rif , with his seat at Badis (for this reason he

196-536: Was called al-Badisi). In 1554 he ceded the city and island to his Ottoman allies in Algiers who made it a nest for pirates operating in the Strait of Gibraltar . The Saadid sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib saw this activity and the Ottoman presence with a very bad eye, as it could be a base for the conquest of his kingdom, and in 1564 he ceded the town and island to Spain; the Moroccan inhabitants were evacuated. The town

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