Pheasant Island
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| Geography | |
| Location | Bidasoa |
| Area | 0.682[1] ha (1.69 acres) |
| Highest elevation | 6 m (20 ft) |
| Administration | |
Current: Spain | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Pheasant Island (French: Île des Faisans/Île de la Conférence, Spanish: Isla de los Faisanes, Basque: Konpantzia, Faisaien Uhartea Konferentziako Uhartea, Faisaien Irla) is an uninhabited river island located in the Bidasoa river, located between France and Spain, whose administration alternates between the two nations every six months.
Etymology
[edit | edit source]There are no pheasants on the island. The name could be a misinterpretation of some French word related to "passing" or "toll".[2] The "Conference" name could come from the international meetings held there.
History
[edit | edit source]
The most important historical event to have taken place on the island was the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees. This was the climax to a series of 24 conferences held between Luis Méndez de Haro, a grandee of Spain, and Cardinal Mazarin, Chief Minister of France, in 1659 following the end of the Thirty Years' War. A monolith was built in the centre of the island to commemorate the meeting.
The island has also been used for several other royal meetings:
- 1659 – Louis XIV met his future wife Maria Theresa of Spain (1638–1683); they were the parents of Louis, Grand Dauphin; a year later – at the Meeting on the Isle of Pheasants – she said farewell to her father, Philip IV of Spain and much of the Spanish court, before crossing into France to become the consort of Louis XIV.
- 1721 – Louis XV met his intended bride Mariana Victoria of Spain (1718–1781). The two never married; Louis instead married Marie Leszczyńska, and Mariana, the future Joseph I of Portugal.
According to the terms of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, the island would remain a condominium.
Political status
[edit | edit source]The island is a condominium,[3] (the world's smallest,[4]) under joint sovereignty of Spain and France;[5] for alternating periods of six months, it is officially under the governance of the naval commander of Hondarribia, Spain (1 February – 31 July) and of a French viceroy (1 August – 31 January).
Currently, the French position of "deputy director for the sea and coast of the Atlantic Pyrenees and Landes departments" carries the title of "viceroy of Pheasant Island", an unusual name in the French Republic.[6][7] One of the French officers with this title was Julien Viaud, better known as the writer Pierre Loti.[8] In practice, it is administered in turn by the mayors of Irun (in Gipuzkoa, Spain) and Hendaye (in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France).[9]
Geography
[edit | edit source]As of January 2018[update], the island was approximately 200 metres (660 ft) long and 40 metres (130 ft) wide, and it was eroding.[9]
Since the Franco-Spanish boundary line follows the thalweg of the Bidasoa river's main course, which is located on the northern shore of the islet, the whole territory of Pheasant Island is an enclave located within the borders of Spain.[10]
Access
[edit | edit source]The island can sometimes be reached on foot from the Spanish side at low tide.[9] It is uninhabited, and access is forbidden,[11] except very occasionally on heritage open days.[9] Other than that, employees of the municipal government of Irun or Hendaye may access the island once every six months for cleaning and gardening,[12] and members of the Naval Commands of San Sebastián (Spain) and Bayonne (France), responsible for monitoring the island, land on it every five days.[12]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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- ^ "The Pheasant Island - A threshold in Time" by G. Sánchez Arsuaga, EURAU18 Congress proceedings 85, page 549
- ^ "International Condominium" (Xavier Henry Mermoz M. du Pré-Maillard, International Boundaries Review, 2013) : The German-Luxembourgish condominium constitutes a common territory under common sovereignty of the two adjacent States and does not form part of the national territory of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, nor that of the Federal Republic of Germany, as recalled by Luxembourg law (2012). The same is true of the Franco-Spanish condominium: the Ile des Faisans, which once belonged entirely to Irun but which was divided into one French and one Spanish parts during the negotiations for peace between France and Spain (1659), became undivided between the two crowns by the Treaty of Bayonne (1856) and its current administration is governed by an agreement signed between the two countries in 1901; since the entry into force of the latter (1902), the exercise of sovereign prerogatives (defense and police as well as justice for foreigners to the two nations) by each State alternates every six months, a viceroy representing each of them. This alternate jurisdiction only concerns the exercise of sovereign power, not the co-sovereignty in itself over this common territory, an undivided sovereignty which remains permanent throughout the year.
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- ^ Loi PRMG1721017V du 2017-07-20 Avis de vacance d'un emploi de directeur départemental interministériel adjoint, délégué à la mer et au littoral (DDTM des Pyrénées-Atlantiques)
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- ^ "International Condominium" (Xavier Henry Mermoz M. du Pré-Maillard, International Boundaries Review, 2013) : This territorial possession is a dependency of both the French Republic and the Kingdom of Spain and is currently located as an enclave within Spain for - as per the 1856 treaty - the border with France is right in the middle of the main channel of the Bidasoa river.
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External links
[edit | edit source]Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
- Pheasant Island article from BBC News
- The World's Only Border-Swapping Island by The Tim Traveller on YouTube
- Faisanes, Isla de los (in Spanish) at Auñamendi Encyclopedia
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- River islands of Spain
- River islands of France
- Uninhabited islands of Spain
- Uninhabited islands of France
- Islands of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Islands of the Basque Country (autonomous community)
- Landforms of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
- Landforms of Gipuzkoa
- France–Spain border
- Irun
- Hendaye
- International islands
- Condominia (international law)
- Diplomatic sites
- Bidasoa