CHAFFARINAS, or ZAFFARINES  , a group of islands belonging to Spain off the north coast of Morocco, near the Algerian frontier, 22 M. to the north of Cape del Agna . The largest of these isles, Del Congreso, is rocky and hilly . It has a watch-house on the coast nearest to Morocco . Isabella II., the central island, contains several batteries, barracks and a penal convict settlement . The Spanish government has undertaken the construction of breakwaters to unite this island with the neighbouring islet of El Rey, with a view to enclose a deep and already sheltered anchorage . This roadstead affords a safe refuge for many large vessels . The Chaffarinas, which are the Tres Insulae of the Romans and the Zafran of the Arabs, were occupied by Spain in 1848 . The Spanish occupation anticipated by a few days a French expedition sent from Oran to annex the islands to Algeria . The population of the islands is under r000 .