Alboran Island


Alboran Island is a small islet in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean, about 50 km north of the Moroccan coast and 90 kilometres south of the Spanish province of Almería. A Spanish possession since 1540, it was taken from the Tunisian pirate Al Borani in the Battle of Alboran. It is now home to a small Spanish Navy garrison and an automated lighthouse.

Description

Alboran Island is a small islet in the Alboran Sea, part of the western Mediterranean, about north of the Moroccan coast and south of the province of Almería, Spain. The island is a flat platform about above sea level and about in area.
off the northeastern end of the island is the small islote de La Nube.
The wall-rocket species Diplotaxis siettiana, called jaramago de Alborán in Spanish, has its only known wild population on the island. It was extinct there during much of the late 20th century but successfully reintroduced from ex-situ conservation stocks in 1999.

History

Alborán has been known in error as "Albusama".
In the mid-1960s there were several attempts by Soviet fishing boats to establish a settlement in Alboran, which forced the Spanish army to establish a permanent detachment of Spanish Navy Marines for the control and protection of the island.

Modern life

The island administratively belongs to the Comarca Metropolitana de Almería and is part of the Pescadería district.