Pheasant Island Explained

Pheasant Island
Local Name:	French: Île des Faisans Spanish; Castilian: Isla de los Faisanes Basque: Konpantzia
Location:	Bidasoa
Area Km2:	0.00682^[1]
Elevation M:	6

Pheasant Island (French: Île des Faisans/Île de la Conférence, Spanish; Castilian: Isla de los Faisanes, Basque: Konpantzia, Basque: Faisaien Uhartea Basque: Konferentziako Uhartea) is an uninhabited river island located in the Bidasoa river, located between France and Spain, whose administration alternates between the two nations every 6 months.

Etymology

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

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

The island is a condominium,^[3] the world's smallest,^[4] under joint sovereignty of Spain and France,^[5] and for alternating periods of six months is officially under the governance of the naval commanders of San Sebastián, Spain (1 February – 31 July) and of Bayonne, France (1 August – 31 January).Currently, the French position of "adjunct département director, delegate for the sea and coast of the Atlantic Pyrenees and Landes" 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

, the island was approximately 200m (700feet) long and 40m (130feet) 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

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.

See also

• List of islands of France
• List of islands of Spain
• List of uninhabited regions

External links

• 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

43.3428°N -1.7656°W

Notes and References

1. Wullms . Jannie . 2012 . Propuesta de una edición crítica de José de Butrón y Mújica, Relación panegírica de la jornada de los señores, señor don Luis Méndez de Haro y señor cardenal Julio de Mazarino, a la conferencia de los Tratados de la Paz entre el Católico Felipe Cuarto el Grande de España, y el Cristianísimo Luis Catorce de Francia . MA . La edición . . 17363 . https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/17363/2/janniewullms2_TFM_MULE_2012.pdf . 3 December 2015 . es . 59–83.
2. News: Rioja Andueza . Iker . España pierde la isla de Irún que reunió a Felipe IV, Luis XIV, Velázquez y D'Artagnan... hasta febrero de 2023 . 2 August 2022 . ElDiario.es . 1 August 2022 . es.
3. News: España asume la jurisdicción de la isla de los Faisanes, la más pequeña del mundo . 3 December 2015 . El Mundo . 2 February 2012 . es.
4. "The Pheasant Island - A threshold in Time" by G. Sánchez Arsuaga, EURAU18 Congress proceedings 85, page 549
5. "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.
6. News: Richardot . Robin . L'île des Faisans, le mini-royaume des vice-rois d'Espagne et de France . 2 August 2022 . Le Monde.fr . 2 August 2019 . fr.
7. 2017-07-20. PRMG1721017V. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000035244034. Avis de vacance d'un emploi de directeur départemental interministériel adjoint, délégué à la mer et au littoral (DDTM des Pyrénées-Atlantiques).
8. Web site: Groizeleau . Vincent . Gendarmerie maritime: Avec la brigade de l'Adour. Mer et Marine. 2 August 2022 . fr . 6 January 2017.
9. News: The island that switches countries every six months . . 28 January 2018.
10. "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.
11. Web site: Caneta and Pheasant Island . Hendaye Tourism . 23 October 2021 . Currently, the island cannot be visited but it can easily be seen from the Joncaux bank, on the Bay Path..
12. Web site: A ilha dos Faisões, o condomínio mais antigo do mundo, é seis meses francesa e seis meses espanhola. Porto. Rita. Observador. pt-PT. 2019-02-03.