- published: 09 Jun 2015
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The Isla de Alborán is a small islet in the Alborán Sea, part of the western Mediterranean, about 50 km north of the Moroccan coast and 90 km south of the province of Almería, Spain. A Spanish possession since 1540, it was taken from the Tunisian pirate Al Borani in the Battle of Alborán. It is home today to a small Spanish Navy garrison and an automated lighthouse. Some 100 m off the northeastern end of the island is the small Isla de las Nubes (literally, island of the clouds).
While Morocco claims the Spanish-held plazas de soberanía enclaves and islands on or near the Moroccan coast as part of Greater Morocco, it has never filed a formal claim to Alborán.
During antiquity, Alborán was known as "Erroris" and as "Albusama".
Today, the island administratively belongs to the city council (Spanish: ayuntamiento) of Almería and is part of the Almería Pescadería (fish market) district.