Islas Cíes
Archipelago just off
the north-western coast by the city of Vigo; an important parque natural for
marine breeding birds
First
impressions are supposed to be the most important. It was mid-July and raining
when I left Vigo. Mist had closed over the hills that ring that city’s estuary
and I could not even see my destination.
I
was lucky to visit Las Islas Cíes on a rainy day. I wandered for hours among
the eucalyptus trees without ever seeing another person. I spent a happy
half-hour following a sparrowhawk from tree to tree in a small Monterrey pine
forest on Punta Muxeiro; despite having been planted the woodland was full of
native shrubs and herbs, such as sage-leaved cistus and heath lobelia, and the
fragrance on this wet day was wonderful. Another half-hour was spent watching
the shags diving for fish in the choppy waves around a rock near Playa
Cantareira; at any one time there was an equal number of avian spectators
perched out of reach of the sea, like so many penguins waiting patiently on an
ice-floe.
If
I had approached the islands from the western side, I might have formed a very
different opinion. Here the granite cliffs receive the full force of the
Atlantic Ocean; although the cliffs tower above the sea, the waves have carved
out numerous caves at the base, some of which are enormous.
Las
Islas Cíes are made up of three main islands, from north to south, Isla del
Norte, Isla del Faro ( these two linked artificially by a road and sand bar) and
Isla del Sur o de San Martín. They lie at the mouth of the Ría de Vigo, some
141¼2 kilometres (nine miles) from the city itself. It amazes me that they
remain so unspoiled despite being so close to 300,000 people. The archipelago
also includes many smaller islets and rocky outcrops. The four main ones are El
Beriero o Agoeiro, Viños, Popa Fragata and Pinelón da Cortella; the former
lies 1.3 kilometres (just under one mile) from the southern island, is topped by
a small tower, and supports only about ten plant species on its very barren
surface.
Since
the declaration of Las Islas Cíes as a parque natural in 1980, there has been
no access to the whole precipitous western side of Isla del Norte, the cliffs
which harbour the highest density of nesting gulls and shags. Similarly, there
is no access to the triangular Isla del Sur, and consequently optimal conditions
exist for wildlife.
The
botanical highlight of Las Islas Cíes is the beach and sand-dune vegetation.
The Galician rarity camariña (Corema album) thrives on both Rodas and Figueiras
beaches; this dwarf shrub is endemic to the Iberian peninsula and produces
separate male and female plants. With it flourish sea rocket, saltwort, sea
knotgrass, cottonweed, sea immortelle and the sea daffodil.
Much
of the interior of the islands consists of pine and eucalyptus plantations,
boasting an understorey of European gorse, blackthorn, bracken and Pyrenean oak.
Here and there the monotonous green is relieved by the pink of round-headed leek,
sky-blue sheep’s-bit, purple foxgloves and white asphodels. Native tree
species are few and far between, but a number of ornamental and orchard trees
persist in abandoned domestic gardens. lt is strange that the heaths and lings
so common in similar habitats on the mainland are virtually absent here. A total
of 260 plant species has been recorded on Las Islas Cíes, of which 232 are of
European origin.
There
is little fresh water on the islands and the sole amphibian found here is the
black-and-gold fire salamander, only seen after rain or at night. Of the
reptiles, both Bocage’s wall lizard and the Iberian wall lizard occur (endemic
to north-west Spain and Portugal), as well as the larger, blunt-headed ocellated
and Schreiber’s lizards.
Birds
command most attention in Las Islas Cíes — and justly so. At the height of
the breeding season, even the most inattentive day-tripper could not fail to
notice the clamour of the gulls as they fight for nesting space on precarious
ledges in the cliff-faces. The most important marine breeding birds here are
herring gulls, now called yellow-legged gulls in Iberia, and lesser black-backed
gulls (occupying their most southerly colony in the world), as well as shags and
guillemots. The cave- and cliff-nesting shags had decreased to 300 pairs by
1981; this colony, much the largest in the Iberian peninsula, is one of the
prime reasons for the establishment of the natural park.
Of
even greater significance, though, is the Iberian guillemot that breeds here. It
is on the verge of extinction on Las Islas Cíes, with only two or three pairs
returning to nest each year. Not only is this tiny enclave endangered, but the
bird is very rare on the entire Atlantic coastline, and thus merits the greatest
possible protection, although Iberia is right at the southern edge of the
bird’s range.
There
is also an abundance of pelagic bird life, although these species do not nest
here. Gannets are a frequent sight, accompanied in winter by razorbills, puffins
and kittiwakes. Although migrant sea-birds such as Manx, Cory’s and great
shearwaters may be seen off-shore in late summer, these birds are more regularly
found off Cape Finisterre to the north.
Between
two and four thousand ducks winter in the Ría de Vigo every year mostly
mallard, wigeon, pochard and common scoter — and these are a frequent sight in
the more sheltered bays of the islands in bad weather. Grey herons can also be
seen fishing, and in 1977 a group of 25 flamingoes visited in winter. Waders
which winter in the area include a few bartailed godwits and grey plovers, along
with turnstones and oystercatchers; the latter used to breed here, but have not
done so for a number of years. It is thought that the only shore-nesting bird on
the islands is the Kentish plover.
BEFORE YOU GO
Maps:
IGN 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 Nos. 222, 223 and 261 and IGN 1:10,000 Parque Natural
de las Islas Cíes.
Guide-books:
Estánislao Fernández de la Cigoña-Núñez, Islas
Cíes, Parque Natural de Galicia.
GETTING THERE
By sea:
the only way to get across to Las Islas Cíes from Vigo is by taking a ferry
from the Estación Marítima de Ría. Boats sail only from the end of June until
the end of September.
WHERE TO STAY
There
is no shortage of accommodation in Vigo. Try the 4-star Hotel Ciudad de Vigo,
T: (986) 22 78 20, F: 43 98 71; 3-star Hotel Lisboa, T: (986) 41 72 55,
F: 48 26 48, or the 2-star Hotel Junquera, T: (986) 43 48 88, F: 22 06
90. For listings on the islands contact the tourist office.
Outdoor living:
there is a camp-site, Isla Cíes, on the Isla Cíes, T: (986) 43 83 58.
It is open from mid-June to mid-Sept and has space for 800 people. Camping is
forbidden elsewhere on the island.
ACTIVITIES
Bird-watching:
Observatorio del Faro do Peito (Isla del Norte) for watching the shag
colonies; and Observatorio de la Campana (Isla de Faro) for observing
herring gulls and shags.
Fishing:
for permits and information contact the tourist office, or Federación
Gallega, C/ Doctor Gasalla, 29, Lugo, T: (982) 21 62 21.
FURTHER
INFORMATION
Tourist office:
Estación Marítima de Transatlánticos, s/n, Vigo, T/F: (986) 43
05 77.