Perejil Island ( es, Isla de Perejil, ber, Tura or , ar, تورة, translit=Tūra), also known as Parsley Island, is a small, uninhabited rocky

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

located off the coast of Morocco. It is administered by Spain as one of the '' plazas de soberanía'', and its sovereignty is disputed by Morocco. It was the subject of an armed incident between the two countries in 2002.

Name

The name ''Isla de Perejil'' literally means " Parsley Island" in Spanish. Its original Berber name is ''Tura'', meaning "empty". It is sometimes referred to in Arabic as "Jazirat al-Ma'danus" ( ar, links=no, جزيرة معدنوس), which is a translation of "Parsley Island". In Moroccan historical references, it is only known as "Tura". In his speech to the Moroccan people commemorating the "Throne Day" on 30 July 2002, the

King of Morocco This is the list of rulers of Morocco, since the establishment of the state in 789. The common and formal titles of these rulers has varied, depending on the time period. Since 1957, the designation King has been used. The present King of Mor ...

used the name "Tura" exclusively, when he mentioned the armed incident with Spain over the island.

Geography

The island lies off the coast of Morocco, from the border of the territory of the Spanish city of Ceuta, to Ceuta itself and from mainland Spain. The island is about in size, with an area of 15 ha or . It has a maximum height of

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

History

In 1415, Portugal, along with the reconquest of Ceuta (Part of the old Hispania Tangeriana), took possession of the nearby islet from the

Marinid Sultanate The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) a ...

, a predecessor to the current state of Morocco. In 1580, Portugal came under the sovereignty of

Philip I of Portugal Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

, who was also King of Spain, creating an Iberian Union under one king, without unifying the countries. When the Union split in 1640, Ceuta remained under Spanish sovereignty.

Spain-Morocco disputes

The islet's sovereignty is disputed by Morocco and Spain. Local Moroccan shepherds used it for grazing livestock, but the vast majority of Spaniards and Moroccans had not heard of the islet until 11 July 2002, when a group of Moroccan soldiers set up a base on the islet. The Moroccan government said that they set foot on the island in order to monitor illegal immigration, a justification the Spanish government rejected as there had been little co-operation on the matter at the time (a repeated source of complaint from Spain). After protests from the Spanish government, led by Prime Minister José María Aznar, Morocco replaced the soldiers with cadets from the Moroccan Navy, who then installed a fixed base on the island. This further angered the Spanish government and both countries restated their claims to the islet. Almost all European Union member states fully supported Spain's objections, with the exception of France and Portugal, whose government issued a statement regretting the incident. Morocco's claims had official support from the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

, except for

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, which restated its recognition of Spanish sovereignty over the

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

s of Ceuta and Melilla. On the morning of 18 July 2002, Spain launched

Operation Romeo-Sierra The Perejil Island crisis (; ) was a bloodless armed conflict between Spain and Morocco that took place on 11–18 July 2002. The incident took place over the small, uninhabited Perejil Island, when a squad of the Royal Moroccan Navy occupied it. ...

, a military attempt to take over the island. The operation was successful, and within hours the Spanish had taken control of the island and custody of the Moroccan naval cadets, who had not resisted the Spanish commando attack force, Grupo de Operaciones Especiales III. The operation was launched in conjunction with the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

and

Spanish Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = Spanish Air and Space Force Anthem , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December , equipment ...

. The Spanish transferred the captured Moroccans by helicopter to the headquarters of the Guardia Civil in Ceuta, who then transported the cadets to the Moroccan border. Over the course of the day, the Spanish Legion replaced the commandos and remained on the island until Morocco, after mediation by the United States, led by

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...

, agreed to return to the

status quo ante ''Status quo ante'' may refer to: * ''Status quo ante'' (phrase), Latin for "the way things were before" * Status Quo Ante (Hungary), Jewish communities in Hungary See also * ''Status quo ante bellum The term ''status quo ante bellum'' i ...

which existed prior to the Moroccan occupation of the island. The islet is now deserted.

Sovereignty

Perejil Island has no permanent human population. Goats are pastured there, and the Moroccan government expressed worries that smugglers and

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

, in addition to illegal immigrants, were using the island. The island is well monitored from both sides in order to maintain the status quo that leaves it deserted and virtually a

no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...

. Morocco want to conquer the Spanish cities Ceuta and Melilla along with several small rocks and islets off the coast of Morocco. The crisis over Perejil Island was seen by the Spanish government as a way for Morocco to test the waters in regard to Spain's will to defend Ceuta and Melilla.Ceberia, Monica et al. (17 September 2012
The last remains of the empire
El Pais in English, Retrieved 24 September 2012

Migration

In June 2014, Spain requested that the Moroccan forces enter the island to expel sub-Saharan migrants.

Popular culture

The international incident is recounted in a 2016 film, ''La Isla'', which is largely based on the facts of the dispute.

References

External links

Isla Perejil in Google Maps

Speech King Mohammed VI
{{Authority control Mediterranean islands Disputed islands Territorial disputes of Morocco Territorial disputes of Spain Strait of Gibraltar Uninhabited islands