Perejil Island

Perejil Island is a small, uninhabited rocky islet located off the coast of Morocco, just 200 metres from the mainland coast. Its sovereignty is disputed between Spain and Morocco. It was the subject of an armed incident between the two countries in 2002.NameThe name Isla de Perejil literally means "Parsley Island" in Spanish. Its original Berber name is Tura, meaning "empty". Moroccan and international media often mistakenly use the name Laila (ليلى) due to a confusion resulting from it being referred to as "la isla" ("the island") pronounced in Spanish with Andalusian accent, rendering "lah ihla" or laíla. It is sometimes referred to in Arabic as "Jazirat al-Ma'danus" (جزيرة معدنوس), which is a translation of "Parsley Island".In Moroccan historical references it is only known as "Tura".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 July 30, 2002, the king of Morocco used the name "Tura" exclusively, when he mentioned the armed incident with Spain over the island.GeographyThe island lies 250m off the coast of Morocco, 8km from the Spanish city of Ceuta and 13.5km from mainland Spain. The island is about 480x in size, with an area of 15 ha or 0.15km². It has a maximum height of 74m above sea level.HistoryIn 1415, Portugal, along with the conquest of Ceuta, took possession of the nearby islet from Morocco. In 1580, Portugal came under the sovereignty of Philip I of Portugal, 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.