What do you think of this fact?
Somewhere between France and Spain there’s an island that can’t decide where it belongs. So it doesn’t. Pheasant Island in the Bidasoa River is Spanish for half the year and French for the other half.
Six months here, six months there
The schedule is fixed: Spain is in charge from February 1 to July 31, France from August 1 to January 31. The island is tiny, a bit over 200 meters long and about 40 meters wide, mostly covered in trees, and nobody lives there. It sits between Irun on the Spanish bank and Hendaye on the French one.
According to The Connexion, the island is run by regional marine captains from both sides, who carry the title of viceroy. Amusing Planet describes the handover as a short ceremony in which officials from both countries pass over documents. It also quotes The New York Times, which compared the island to the ball in an extremely slow game of ping-pong between France and Spain.
A peace treaty on a tiny island
Why all this? In 1659, France and Spain met on the island to end a war that had started in 1635. The Connexion counts 24 meetings there between August 13 and November 7, 1659, the day the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed. The deal came with a royal marriage: Louis XIV was to marry a daughter of Spain’s King Philip IV. According to Amusing Planet, Louis met his future wife Maria Theresa on the island.
According to Amusing Planet, the treaty turned the island into a shared territory, a condominium, and Islands.com calls it the smallest one in the world. A stone monument on the island honors the treaty, with its inscription in Spanish on the side facing Spain and in French on the side facing France.
Don’t plan a picnic, though. The island is closed to the public. At least it’s close: Islands.com puts it just 10 meters from the Spanish bank.
Bonus fact: According to The Connexion, the Covid years broke the rhythm, and Spain kept the island for two years in a row.
So twice a year, an island full of trees quietly changes its passport.