MADRID, Spain – The Ministry of Defence is reinforcing Spain’s military presence on the rocks and islands of sovereignty located off the coast of Morocco, which in addition to Ceuta and Melilla comprise the four Spanish islets in North Africa: the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, the Alhucemas Islands, the Chafarinas Islands and the Perejil islet. Over all of them hangs the recurring claim by Morocco, specifically from the irredentist Moroccan movement that defends the idea of Greater Morocco, though Spain has never negotiated the sovereignty of these garrisons, as they are an integral part of Spanish territory.
Spanish Tourists Mass-cancel Trips To Morocco Following Ceuta Incursion
The Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, the Alhucemas Islands, the Chafarinas and the Perejil islet are known as the minor garrisons, islets situated next to the northern coast of Africa without civilian population but with permanent military personnel. They are part of the Kingdom of Spain and therefore also part of the European Union. Due to their emptiness and small size, all these territories are directly managed by the central government, constituting a unique case because they belong neither to the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla nor to any community, granting them special status, in contrast to the island of Tabarca which is part of the province of Alicante and Alborán which belongs to Almería.
España refuerza su presencia en las Chafarinas, frente a Marruecos
— euronews español (@euronewses) September 10, 2026
➡️ https://t.co/4QEgaQ60u0 pic.twitter.com/V2uxc5ciHL
Defence Minister Margarita Robles visited the rocks of Vélez and Alhucemas and one of the Chafarinas Islands in August 2024, and on 2 September she held a videoconference with the military detachments deployed on the rocks and islands of Spanish sovereignty. The Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera is located 126 kilometres west of Melilla and 117 kilometres southeast of Ceuta, with an approximate area of 19,000 square metres. It was originally a rocky island until an earthquake in 1930 turned it into a peninsula, joining it to the continent through a narrow sandy isthmus, or tombolo, that serves as the border with Morocco, a circumstance that makes it the most vulnerable of the four Spanish garrisons.
National High Court Sees Ceuta Crisis As ‘attack On Territorial Integrity’ Of Spain
The Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera depends on the Maritime Captaincy of Melilla and is permanently occupied by about 25 soldiers from the 54th Regulars Group of the Army, with the boundary separating it from Morocco being the smallest border section in the world at barely 85 metres in length and not permitted to be crossed in either direction as it does not constitute a border control point. The Alhucemas Islands and rock comprise three islets situated in the bay of Alhucemas off the Mediterranean coast of Morocco, namely the Peñón de Alhucemas and the islets of Tierra and Mar, located about 155 kilometres east of Ceuta and about 100 kilometres west of Melilla, with several of the submarine cables connecting Melilla with the Peninsula passing through the area.
