Isla Perejil

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Spanish-Moroccan conflicts (1859–2002)
War of 1859 – 1st Rif War – 2nd Rif War – 3rd Rif War – Ifni War – Green March – Recuperar Soberanía

The Isla Perejil ("Parsley Island" in Spanish; Arabic: Leila, "night" , local, i.e. Berber name: Tura) is a small, rocky islet located in the Strait of Gibraltar, 200 m off the coast of Morocco, 5 km from the Spanish exclave Ceuta.

In 1415 Portugal, along with the conquest of Ceuta, took possession to Kingdom of Fez of the nearby islet of Perejil. Portugal then became united with Spain from 1580–1640. The island has been under Spanish control since 1668.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Sovereignty

The islet's sovereignty is in dispute between Morocco and Spain, but both agree on a status quo that leaves it deserted and virtually a no man's land.

The vast majority of Spaniards and Moroccans had not heard of the islet until July 11, 2002, when a group of Moroccan soldiers set up base on the islet. The Moroccan government said that they set foot on the island in order to monitor illegal immigration which was denied by the Spanish government since there was virtually no cooperation in the matter by that time, which was a repeated source of complaint from Spain; later, after protests from the Spanish government, led by José María Aznar, the soldiers were replaced by Moroccan navy cadets who then installed a fixed base on the island. This further angered the Spanish government and both countries restated their claims to the islet. Spain was fully supported by almost all the European Union member states, with the exception of a rather cold shoulder from France and Portugal (whose government issued a statement merely regretting the incident), while Morocco had the official support from the Arab League members except Algeria which even took that occasion to insist that she recognizes Spanish sovereignty on the Ceuta and Melilla exclaves. This exception should be placed in a context of historic geopolitic tension between Morocco and Algeria, together with the fact that Spain is currently Algeria's third biggest trading partner (mostly based on the natural gas trade).

On the morning of July 18, Operation Recuperar Soberanía (Recover Sovereignty), was launched. The operation was successful and the Moroccan navy cadets were dislodged from the island in a matter of hours without offering any resistance to the Spanish commando attack force, Grupo de Operaciones Especiales. The operation was launched in conjunction with the Spanish Navy and Spanish Air Force. The captured Moroccans were transferred by helicopter to the headquarters of the Guardia Civil in Ceuta, from where they were transported to the Moroccan border. Over the course of the same day the Spanish commandos were replaced on the island by members of the Spanish Legion, who remained on the island until Morocco, after mediation by the United States, agreed to return to the status quo ante. The islet is now, once again, deserted.

Morocco had been demanding the return of the Spanish exclaves Ceuta and Melilla. The crisis over Isla Perejil was viewed by the Spanish as a way for the Moroccans to test the waters in regard to Spain's will to defend its remaining North African possessions. The swift and overwhelming use of force to retake this strategically unimportant and uninhabited islet demonstrated Spain's desire to retain its foothold in North Africa.

Isla Perejil has no permanent human population. Goats are pastured there, and the Moroccan government expressed worries that smugglers and terrorists, in addition to illegal immigrants, were using the island, which doesn't sound likely nowadays since after the incident the island is well monitored from both sides in order to maintain the status quo.

The word Perejil is thought not to be derived from the plant name but to be a misderivation of "Perez Gil", the names of an owner/conqueror, but there is no evidence of that.

Apart from Ceuta and Melilla, several other nearby territorities and islands that are now controlled by Spain are claimed by Morocco. See Isla de Alborán, Islas Chafarinas, Peñón de Alhucemas, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera.