One of the plazas de soberanía (places of sovereignty), this extraordinary white island fortress can be seen a few hundred metres off Plage Sfiha, along with the uninhabited Isla de Mar and Isla de Tierra, which fly the Spanish flag. Spanish rule dates back to 1559, when the Saadi dynasty gave it to Spain in exchange for military assistance. In 1673 the Spanish military established a garrison there and never left.
Today the fort hosts several dozen soldiers and cannot be visited. Spanish sovereignty has been contested by Morocco since independence in 1956.
