Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera

Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera in ancient times Badis or Bades, is a Spanish rock in North Africa off the Moroccan coast (Plazas de soberanía). It is part of several Peñones, or rock-fortresses on the coast of Northern Africa. Vélez de la Gomera is administered from Melilla. Its tiny population is made up of military personnel only.

Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera is located 119 km southeast of Ceuta. It was a natural island in the Alboran Sea until 1934, when a huge thunderstorm washed large quantities of sand in the short channel between the island and the African continent Ever since, it has been a peninsula, currently connected to the Moroccan coast by an 85 m long sandy isthmus, the World's shortest land border. With a length of 400 meters northwest-southeast and a width of up to 100 meters, it covers about 19,000 m² or 1.9 ha.