Pheasant Island

Pheasant Island
Île des Faisans (French); Isla de los Faisanes (Spanish); Konpantzia (Basque)
	Pheasant Island from the International Bridge over the Bidasoa river. On the left Irun, Spain; on the right Hendaye, France
Geography
Location	Bidasoa
Area	0.00682 km2 (0.00263 sq mi)
Highest elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Administration
	France (current)
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Département	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
	Spain France
Autonomous community	Basque Country
Province	Guipuscoa
Demographics
Population	0

Louis XIV of France and Philip IV of Spain meeting on Pheasant Island for the Treaty of the Pyrenees.

Pheasant Island (French: Île des Faisans/Île de la Conférence, Spanish: Isla de los Faisanes, Basque: Konpantzia) is an uninhabited river island in the Bidasoa river, located between France and Spain, whose administration alternates between both nations.

The island is a condominium^[2] established by the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, under joint sovereignty of Spain and France, 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). In practice, it is administered respectively by the mayors of Irun (in Gipuzkoa, Spain) and Hendaye (in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France).^[3]

Geography[]

As of January 2018, the island is approximately 200 metres (660 ft) long and 40 metres (130 ft) wide, and is eroding.^[3]

History[]

The island as seen from the Spanish side

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 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 le 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.

Access[]

The island can sometimes be reached from the Spanish side at low tide.^[3] It is uninhabited, and access is forbidden^[4] except very occasionally on heritage open days.^[3] Other than that, employees of the municipal government of Irun or Hendaye may access the island once every six months for cleaning and gardening,^[5] and members of the Naval Commands of San Sebastián (Spain) and Bayonne (France), responsible for monitoring the island, will land on it every five days.^[5]