This is the shortest border in the world and it is part of Spain

Spain is known among geography buffs for having some of the most unusual borders in the world. Proof of this are Llivia - the Spanish enclave completely surrounded by French territory; Pheasant Island - an unusual condominium with France that changes administration every six months; or the regional cities of Ceuta and Melilla - the only borders by land between Europe and Africa.

However, there is an even more curious case that is not so well-known to the general public. About 150 kilometres east of Tetouan, there is a tiny rocky islet that was once an island, but today is linked to the African mainland by a sandy tombolo, which makes it - technically - another land border between Spain and Morocco.

This rock that has been under Spanish sovereignty since the 16th century is Vélez de la Gomera. It gives Spain the unusual honour of having the smallest recognised border in the world: just 85 metres of sand connect this rocky islet with the Moroccan coast.

But what is the history of this place?

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera was a fortified island that served as a refuge for pirates in the rough waters of the Mediterranean. In 1508, soldier Pedro Navarro took it by order of the Catholic Monarchs, seeing that the corsairs were hiding there after their attacks. The conquest was completed with the seizure of the nearby coastal settlements, including the town of Vélez, then inhabited by thousands of people.

But the place did not last long in Spanish hands. In 1522, an enemy fleet tricked the garrison by posing as reinforcements and seized the island by force, slitting the throats of its defenders. The pirates, this time with the support of the Wattasid sultanate, again made the rock a stronghold for corsair raids. For decades, Spain tried to re-conquer it without success, until in 1564, a powerful fleet, under the reign of Philip II and led by captain García Álvarez de Toledo, managed to conquer it once and for all.

Since then, Vélez de la Gomera has been under Spanish sovereignty without interruption, although its strategic role has been more symbolic than military. In 1577, it even served as a refuge for the deposed sultan Muley Ahmed, who asked for help from Philip II to regain the throne of Morocco. Spain and Portugal became involved in his cause, sending arms and troops. The rock became the scene of diplomatic negotiations and covert operations in the midst of the struggle for hegemony in North Africa.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, life on the rock was hard: sieges, epidemics, extreme shortages of food. At times, the garrison could barely hold out. There were even proposals to abandon it, but Moroccan attempts to take it always failed. In the 20th century, during the Rif War, the rock was again the scene of crossfire. The legion had to land under bombardment to break the Rif siege. Spanish submarines and battleships guaranteed its supply.

Today, Vélez de la Gomera has no military value. Its garrison is maintained more by tradition than by strategy. But it is still Spanish territory, now connected to the African continent by a sandy isthmus following an earthquake in 1930.