Tabarca in terms of marine ecology. Therefore, waters around Tabarca were declared a Marine reserve in 1986, the first of its kind in Spain. This status was mainly granted due to its submarine posidonia prairie, which is the largest in the Spanish Mediterranean and has an extraordinary ecological value in terms of marine fauna and flora. In order to both enhance the marine biodiversity and protect it from fishing, an artificial reef was laid near the island by the Marine Reserve authorities. Tabarca Tabarca (, ) also known in Valencian as "Nova Tabarca" and "Illa Plana", and in Spanish as "Nueva
Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera (; Berber language: "Badis"; Arabic: "jazīrat ghumara"), in ancient times Badis or Bades, is a Spanish rock ("plaza de soberanía") in the west of the Mediterranean Sea, connected to the Moroccan shore by a sandy isthmus. It is also connected to a smaller islet to the east, la Isleta, by a rocky isthmus. It is one of several "peñones", or rock-fortresses, on the coast of Northern Africa. Vélez de la Gomera, along with la Isleta, are administered by the Spanish central government, and have a population consisting only