The channel was turned into a tombolo[2] and the island became a peninsula, connected to the Moroccan coast by an 85 m (279 ft) long sandy isthmus, which is the world's shortest single land-border segment.

Portugal and Spain passed an agreement in 1496 in which they effectively established their zones of influence on the North African coast.

In 1522, Spain lost the peñón to a Moroccan Berber attack that resulted in the deaths of the entire Spanish garrison.

Ali Abu Hassun, the new Wattasid ruler of Morocco in 1554, then gave the peñón to the Ottoman troops who had assisted him in gaining the throne.

The Sa'di sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib was alarmed by this activity, fearing that the Ottomans might use the town of Badis as a base from which to undertake the conquest of Morocco.