A little Spain inside France
OLD TREATY HAS LEFT INTERESTING TERRITORIAL ANOMALIES FOR THE TWO NATIONS
early 1970s, but the residents waited for more than 40 years for the pipes to be hooked up. As it is now, a health service in the village services French citizens as well — thanks to the EU’s sharing of services.
But the status of Llivia isn’t the only anomaly thrown up by the architects of the Treaty of the Pyrenees.
That island where the treaty between the Spanish and French realms remains an historical, political and geographical anomaly to the present day.
The island sits in the Bidasoa River separating northeast Spain and southwest France, where the French city of Hendaye sits opposite the Spanish town of Irun. It’s roughly 5,000 square metres in size.
A cow and three ducks
To celebrate the end to the Thirty Years’ War, both Philip IV and King Louis XIV of France agreed that ownership of the small island where the treaty was signed would be shared between the two realms.
From January to June each year, it belongs to Spain, and from July to December, is French territory.
Thankfully, the island is uninhabited, and access to it is strictly controlled.
“It requires little attentions,” said Commander Rafael Preito from the Spanish naval base in San Sebastian, who took charge of the territory up to June. It then moved to the administration of the French and a naval station in Bayonne.
“People are very respectful,” he said. “No one tries to trespass [on Pheasant Island] even though the tide is so low you can almost walk across to it. We typically enter every five days to carry out routine maintenance.”
And despite its name, there are no actual pheasants there either.
“At most, there was a cow and three ducks, probably rented by resident to take the role of pheasants for visitors,” French literary great Victor Hugo complained in 1843 after visiting the site.
There is, however, one positive side to the fact that it is looked after by both the Spanish and the French. When the treaty was signed, it measured just 80 metres by 5. Both nations shore up the island and work on the tidal flows, and it has actually grown now to its present 215 metres by 38. That’s international cooperation at work for you. FRANCE SPANISH ENCLAVE