The Isla de Alborán is a small islet

Islet

An islet is a very small island.- Types :As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability....

 in the Alborán Sea

Alboran Sea

|300px|thumb|]]The Alboran Sea is the westernmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between Spain on the north and Morocco and Algeria on the south...

, part of the western Mediterranean, about 50 km north of the Moroccan

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 coast and 90 km south of the province of Almería, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. A Spanish possession since 1540, it was taken from the Tunisian pirate Al Borani in the Battle of Alborán

Battle of Alborán

The battle of Alborán took place on 1 October 1540 off the island of Alborán during the Ottoman-Habsburg struggle for the control of the Mediterranean when a Spanish fleet under the command of Bernardino de Mendoza destroyed an Ottoman fleet commanded by Ali Hamet sinking a galley and capturing 10...

. It is home today to a small Spanish Navy

Spanish Navy

The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...

 garrison and an automated lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

. Some 100 m off the northeastern end of the island is the small Isla de las Nubes (literally, island of the clouds).

While Morocco claims the Spanish-held plazas de soberanía

Plazas de soberanía

The plazas de soberanía or sovereign territories, referred to in English as Spanish North Africa or simply Spanish Africa, are the current Spanish territories in continental North Africa bordering Morocco, except the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.After the Reconquista, forces of the...

enclaves and islands on or near the Moroccan coast as part of Greater Morocco

Greater Morocco

Greater Morocco is a label historically used by some Moroccan anti-colonial political leaders protesting against Spanish and French rule, to refer to wider territories historically associated with the Moroccan Sultan...

, it has never filed a formal claim to Alborán.

During antiquity, Alboran was known as "Erroris" and as "Albusama".
Today, the island administratively belongs to the city council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

  of Almería

Almería

Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...

 and is part of the Almería Pescadería (fish market) district.

General data

• Position: 35°56′42"N 03°02′12"W
• Area: About 71,200 m² (or 17.6 acres). Close to the island there is another called Cloud Islet.
• Altitude: The island is a flat platform about 15 m above sea level.
• Curiosities: Owing to its strategic value, in about 1960 a few supposed fishing vessels from the Soviet Union
  Soviet Union
  The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
  
  tried to install a stable base on the island. For this reason the Spanish army established a settlement on Alborán for its control and protection.

External links

• Aerial Photograph