The Institute of Marine Sciences of Andalusia, belonging for the Spanish National Research Council, has been located on the University Campus of Puerto Real (Cadiz) since 1986, when it moved from its previous building in the Port of Cadiz. The new location was chosen primarily so that the Institute could maintain very close links with the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Cadiz and to the planned Faculty of Marine Sciences, which was completed a few years later. Thus a compact nucleus of reference for marine research was created. An additional new building for the ICMAN, with laboratories and offices, was opened in 2008. Two years later another new building equipped for experimentation with aquatic animals was opened. In 2012, the Institute became a founder member of the CEI·MAR (Campus of International Excellence of the Sea/Oceans) which groups together several Universities and Scientific Institutions of Spain, Portugal and Morocco.