Cortegada Island

Aerial view

The Isla de Cortegada (in Galician, Illa de Cortegada) is a Spanish island located in the province of Pontevedra. It is the largest of an archipelago that, apart from Cortegada, the largest island, has other groups of islands, such as the Malveiras Islands or the Briñas Islands. Cortegada, together with the two groups of islands mentioned, are part of the National Park of the Atlantic Islands, in Galicia. It is communicated at low seas with Carril, by a path called Camino del Carro.

Its flora, which occurs more frequently in more southern regions with a humid and warm temperate climate, is a type of subtropical cloud forest or high jungle, with large trees, vines and lianas whose leaves resemble those of the laurel, of which takes the name of laurisilva.

Situation

It is located inside the Arosa estuary, almost in the estuary of the Ulla river, in the parish of Santiago de Carril, separated from the nearest coast by a 189-meter-wide channel that is a large bank of converted into a shellfish nursery (especially cockles and clams) for centuries, called Canal dos Viveiros (A Canle dos Viveiros), where the famous clam is grown de Carril, which has a designation of origin.

Geography

It has an area of 54 hectares of almost flat territory (its highest elevation is 22 meters high). This orography favors the formation of ponds and small lagoons that in winter reach a certain size. Its only water current is the tiny stream that flows from the fountain located next to the old monastery on the island. Very interesting is the point of Fradiño, since it is a point where currents meet, forming a biotope with a multitude of species of mollusks, crustaceans and fish, and there is a Roman wreck on that same point.

The shape of the island is almost rectangular, with a long rocky outcropping that extends to the north.

The cruise that stands in front of the former monastery of Cortegada, next to the island's coastline.

Buildings

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the island had a village of settlers who farmed its land: it is located next to from the small pier, in the southern part of the island, and today you can still see the remains of the houses among the exuberant vegetation. In the western part of Cortegada there are still the ruins of a rich mansion built at the end of the XIX century. There are also remains of many stables and a well. But the most outstanding construction are the remains, relatively well preserved, of the old monastery church of the Cortegada priory, of which there are also some remains. In front of the church there is a transept of magnificent bearing. Very crowded pilgrimages were held in that church every March 25 and September 15. The remains of a hospital built in 1652 and which later functioned as a lazaretto are also preserved.

Ecology

It is valued by numerous researchers and scientists, in addition to the richness of its seabed, for having the largest laurel forest in Europe. It also preserves a huge oak grove and an important mass of Pinus pinaster, with which the island appears dense and completely covered with trees.

Fire in 2015

On July 16, 2015, the island suffered a fire outbreak almost in its heart that only affected 400 square meters and that, thanks to the intervention of the professionals of the Municipal Civil Protection Emergency Service together with the neighbors, and personal of the national park was left in a simple scare.

The Island is a great reference for Carril, the parish of Vilagarcía to which the Island belongs, and for this reason the fire had a great impact on the city, to such an extent that the residents jumped into the sea with cauldrons to help with professionals in firefighting.

It was nine at night when 112 telephoned the base of the Municipal Emergency Service, and informed the professionals of a possible forest fire on the island. They immediately launched an intervention that would last several hours. Four professionals left in a boat towards the island, to try to contain the fire while pressure pumps did not arrive. With the help of a neighbor, they controlled the fire, using "bat-fires" and lines of defense (a technique used by professionals in the fight against fires, which consists of removing fuel to stop the advance of the flames). Little by little, more residents and professionals began to arrive, who began to load cauldrons with water to cool the perimeter of the fire. Even the mayor of the city, Alberto Varela Paz, joined the human chain to load cauldrons with sea water.

The fire was a little big scare, which thanks to the quick intervention of the neighbors and the municipal emergency professionals did not turn into a disaster.

History

Already in the I century it was mentioned by Pliny under the name Corticata. In the Middle Ages a monastery was built, later rebuilt and demolished again even before the exclaustration of the XIX century, of which Its monasterial church remains, converted in past times into a sanctuary. A hospital was later built (17th century), converted into a hospital.

Until 1910 it belonged to the Pazo da Gulpilleira, to which the residents of the island paid rents; but on that date it was acquired by popular subscription to donate it to King Alfonso XIII, so that he could build his summer residence there. The plans were even drawn up, but everything was suspended because the king decided to establish his summer residence in the Palacio de la Magdalena (Santander). The island passed to the estate of Juan de Borbón in 1958, who sold it to the company Santiaguesa Cortegada S.A. (1979). This society wanted to build a luxury urbanization and a bridge that connected the island with the mainland, but, not being allowed, they decided to request compensation 200 times higher than the value of the purchase they made from Don Juan de Borbón. Today everything is in the hands of the courts. The residents of Vilagarcía, through the Comisión Pro-Cortegada, managed to have the island declared a public natural park, thus paralyzing urban planning claims. Their fight was crowned with the integration of the islands within the national park of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia. On August 30, 2007, when it was expropriated by the Junta de Galicia after paying a just price of 1.8 million euros, the island returned to be definitively in the public domain.