Peñón de Alhucemas

The peninsula of El-Hoceïma (in Spanish Peñón de Alhucemas ) is a Mediterranean small island off the coasts of North Africa, which constitutes one of the 4 Plazas of soberanía Spanish. In addition to the island itself, are attached there two small islands: the island of Sea ( Isla de Mar ) and the Ground island ( Isla de Tierra ). The island is located at 300 m off Morocco, vis-a-vis the town of El-Hoceïma (in Spanish Alhucemas, formerly Villa Sanjurjo) , to 155 km in the east of Ceuta and 100 km in the west of Melilla.

Administratively, the island is attached to Melilla.

The peninsula of El-Hoceïma is long 70 m, broad 50 m high 27 m, with a surface of 15 ha. It is occupied by a fort, some houses and a church.

The island of Sea is a flat small island, 4 m height. The Ground island is a high rock platform of 11 Mr.

The Spanish presence goes up with 1559: several territories were conceded temporarily in Spain by the sultan of Morocco, Moulay Abdallah Al-Ghalib Billah, in exchange of an assistance against the Turkish armed . August 28th, 1673, Charles II, king d' Espagne, sent to it a garrison, Spanish sovereignty was permanent since then. Today, the fort accommodates an about sixty soldiers.

The islands are located not far from the points of landing used by the France and Spain in 1925 during the War of the Rif. Spanish sovereignty is disputed by the Morocco.

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