Illa Grossa, ("Large Island" in

Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the Carche, El Carche comarca in Región de Murcia, Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance lan ...

) is the largest island of the Columbretes archipelago of Spain, located in the Mediterranean Sea. It has a surface area of 14

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

, or 0.05

square miles In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length ad ...

. It sits 60 km from

Costa del Azahar Costa del Azahar (, literally in English "Orange Blossom Coast") or Costa dels Tarongers (, literally in English: Orange Tree Coast) is the name for the coast of the province of Castellón in Spain, from Vinaròs to Almenara. Towns on the Costa ...

. The island has experienced a

rifting In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben ...

process since the

lower Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 Ma to 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). It was prece ...

, and is characterized by a significant presence of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

materials. It is the result of a number of craters forming a chain, and its shape resembles the halve of an

ellipse In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focus (geometry), focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special ty ...

with an average diameter of 1 km, with two main elevations. The island's highest point, located in the northern section, is called mount ''Colibrí'' or ''Colibre''. Along with the rest of the islands of the archipelago, it belongs to the Columbretes Islands Natural Reserve.

History

The island was used as a refuge by

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

and

smugglers Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

. In the mid 19th Century, the island was set on fire in order to exterminate the large population of snakes. The snakes were endemic to the islands, and the archipelago's original names (''Ophiusa'' or ''Columbraria'') were given by Greek and Roman sailors due to the abundance of reptiles. In 1859, a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

was built 67 m above sea level, the highest point of the archipelago. In 1895, Ludwig Von Salvator published his book ''Columbretes'', the world's first account of the island's

flora and fauna In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi; ...

. The lighthouse was operated by lighthouse keepers until 1975, when it was automated. In the late 1970s, the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

navies bombarded the islands as part of military exercises. The use of the islands as targets stopped in 1982, after student protests calling for an end of the bombardments pushed the Deputation of Castellón to solicit an end to the exercises, with the Spanish

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

complying to the request. The island is uninhabited, except for guards established by the

Generalitat Valenciana The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self-government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia is politically organized. It consists of seven institutions including the ''Corts Valen ...

. The Columbretes islands were declared a natural park by the Council of the Generalitat Valenciana through the 15/1988 decree of 25 January, and a

Marine Reserve A marine reserve is a type of marine protected area (MPA). An MPA is a section of the ocean where a government has placed limits on human activity. A marine reserve is a marine protected area in which removing or destroying natural or cultural ...

of more than 4.400 hectares by the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

through the Ministerial Order of 19 April 1990. They were renamed a

Natural Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

by the Generalitat Valenciana through the 11/1994 Law of 27 December.

Fauna

The island is known for being the natural habitat of the Columbretes lizard ('' Podarcis atrata''). The island is also inhabited by animals in danger of extinction, such as

Eleonora's falcon Eleonora's falcon (''Falco eleonorae'') is a medium-sized falcon. It belongs to the hobby group, a rather close-knit number of similar falcons often considered a subgenus ''Hypotriorchis''. The sooty falcon is sometimes considered its closest re ...

and

Audouin's gull Audouin's gull (''Ichthyaetus audouinii'') is a large gull restricted to the Mediterranean and the western coast of Saharan Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''ikhthus'', "fish", and ''aetos'', "eagle", and t ...

References

{{Reflist Islands of Spain Natural parks of Spain Natural parks of the Valencian Community Landforms of the Valencian Community Plana Alta Seabird colonies Protected areas established in 1988 Marine reserves of Spain Protected areas of the Valencian Community Balearic Sea Uninhabited islands of Spain