The Island of A Toxa, La Toxa Grande, the Island of Louxo or the Island of the Baths of Louxo (in Galician Illa da Toxa) is a Spanish island belonging to the

province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain along the country's Atlantic coast in southwestern Europe. The province forms the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, and Ourense, th ...

, in Galicia. The island is located east of the small town of

O Grove O Grove (alternative spelling: ''Ogrobe'') is a municipality belonging to the province of Pontevedra, in Galicia, Spain. A peninsula that faces the Atlantic Ocean and the shores of O Salnés valley, enclosed by the southern Galician estuaries ...

, to which it is connected by an 18th-century bridge It has a small urban centre called Isla de la Toja, belonging to the civil parish of San Martín, which had 42 inhabitants in 2018. It has an area of 110 hectares and is located about 30 km from

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...

Name

The island is traditionally given the original Galician names, illa de Louxo or illa da Toxa Grande; the latter name was devised to differentiate the name of this island from that of the island of La Toja Pequeña (illa da Toxa Pequena), which is located about 100 metres east of La Toja Grande.

Etymology

The name Toja has been explained as a pre-Roman hydronym derived from the Indo-European base *Tŭg-, more precisely *Tŭgia "muddy place", in reference to the therapeutic mud of the

thermal springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

that characterise the island of La Toja. This reference hides the etymology of Louxo, the other name of the island, which since the middle of the 20th century is derived from Lausio, from the Indo-European root *leu-, *lau- "to wash, to wash oneself", in reference to its very ancient thermal springs.

History

For centuries, the island was used by the inhabitants of

as a place to graze their cattle (which they transported by boat) and also for their agricultural work. But following the rediscovery in the 19th century of its thermal mud (from which it takes the name La Toja) and medicinal waters (from which it takes the name Louxo), it became privately owned to exploit its thermal advantages, building the old

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

, which brought with it a spectacular increase in tourism and the birth of other facilities. In 1989, the island hosted the annual meeting of the Bilderberg influence group, which brings together the political and financial elites of the wider world.

Spa centre

It is one of the most famous islands in Galicia due to its vocation as a spa, leisure and tourism centre: it has

thermal baths A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

, old soap and cosmetics factories, luxury hotels, a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

, a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

, a congress centre, the first

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

in Spain,

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...

s, padel courts, archery courts, swimming pools,

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States a ...

s, a shopping centre and other facilities. However, the centre of the island still retains a dense pine forest. Thus, the island is divided into : 32 hectares of private housing estates (its southern part and the eastern and western flanks), 25 hectares of golf course for private use (its entire northern part) and 25 hectares of virgin pine forest (in the centre of the island).

Chapel

The island has a characteristic chapel dedicated to Saint Caralampio and the Virgin of Carmen, whose original plan dates back to the 12th century and which is now completely covered with

scallop Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...

Tourism

On this island, there are several recreational opportunities, including boating along the ria. The boats are

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

s whose

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

s are fitted with a special glass so that the marine fauna can be seen. On the route, a mussel farm is visited and its operation for cultivating mussels is explained. The island ''Gran Hotel'' is a good architectural example of the

Belle Époque The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (; French for "Beautiful Epoch") is a period of French and European history, usually considered to begin around 1871–1880 and to end with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era ...

style.

Gallery

File:A Toxa 040516 54.jpg, Chapel covered with scallops File:A Toxa Galicia.jpg, Detail of the chapel File:Campo de Golf da Toxa. Punta Cabreira. O Grove.jpg,

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

course File:Puente de la Isla de la Toja.jpg, La Toja bridge File:A Toxa, Riestra 03-02b.jpg, Marquis of Riestra on the island File:Église de La Toja.jpg, Chapel File:Club de Golf de La Toja.jpg, Golf club File:2016 Xanela da igrexa da Illa da Toxa.jpg, Detail of the chapel

Name

Etymology

History

Spa centre

Chapel

Tourism

Gallery

References

See also

Related articles

External links