Administratively, the Medes Archipelago belongs to the Baix Empordà comarca, Catalonia, Spain.

The islands are protected as a nature reserve; scubadiving is popular but is thus regulated there and requires permission.

[2] In the 15th century the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem built a fortress on Meda Gran.

He rebuilt, garrisoned and fortified the fort, and symbolically renamed the islands the Isles of the Restoration.

Despite the ravages caused by industrial pollution and mass-tourism in the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, there is still a significant amount of marine biodiversity in the waters off the islands, such as large submarine meadows of Posidonia oceanica, and underwater caves where groupers breed.