Alhucemas Rock Cemetery

Alhucemas Rock Cemetery is a small burial ground located on a rocky islet known as La Pulpera, adjoining Peñón de Alhucemas — a Spanish fortress rock off the coast of Morocco, near the town of Al Hoceima. Abandoned today and no longer holding any remains, it was for decades the resting place for soldiers and residents of this isolated Spanish military outpost.

Where exactly is the cemetery located?

La Pulpera is a rocky islet sitting right next to the main rock of Peñón de Alhucemas, one of Spain's plazas de soberanía — sovereign territories on the North African coast. A footbridge with stairs was built connecting the main Peñón to the islet, allowing people to walk between the fortress and the burial site. Peñón de Alhucemas itself lies about 300 metres offshore, near the Moroccan town of Al Hoceima, roughly midway between Ceuta and Melilla.

What is the history behind this site?

Spanish presence on Peñón de Alhucemas dates back to the 16th century: in 1559, the Saadi dynasty ceded several coastal points to Spain in exchange for military assistance against Ottoman forces. A permanent Spanish garrison has occupied the rock continuously since 1673, making it one of the longest-held Spanish outposts in North Africa.

The cemetery on the La Pulpera islet served as the burial ground for the garrison and its associated community. It held grave markers dating back to the 18th century, originating from a church that no longer exists, along with individual tombs and wall galleries containing burial niches from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Of particular note were seventeen burials of soldiers who died between 1922 and 1923 — a period of intense colonial fighting in the Rif region, when Spanish outposts along the Moroccan coast regularly came under attack.

What happened to the burials?

All the remains interred at the cemetery were eventually transferred to Melilla, even though the grave structures themselves remained in good physical condition. The decision to exhume and relocate the burials was likely driven by the logistical difficulties of maintaining a cemetery on such an isolated, hard-to-access islet, compounded by the small size of the garrison, which was unable to provide ongoing upkeep for the site.

Why does this place matter?

Alhucemas Rock Cemetery is a testament to the unusual history of Spain's territories along the Moroccan coast — enclaves that have remained under Spanish administration for centuries, while also being claimed by Morocco since it gained independence in 1956. Today, only a small military detachment is stationed on Peñón de Alhucemas, and the site itself remains off-limits to ordinary visitors — the area is closed and controlled by the Spanish military.

Frequently asked questions

Can visitors tour Alhucemas Rock Cemetery? No — Peñón de Alhucemas and the adjoining islet holding the cemetery are a closed military area, off-limits to tourists.

How many people were buried at this cemetery? Records document seventeen burials of soldiers killed between 1922 and 1923, alongside older graves dating back to the 18th century.

Where are the remains of those buried there now? They were transferred to Melilla, even though the original grave structures were in good condition.

Why was the cemetery built on a separate islet? Due to limited space on the main Peñón rock, burials were placed on the neighbouring La Pulpera islet, which was linked to the fortress by a footbridge.