
The Cíes Islands (; ) are an
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
off the coast of
Pontevedra
Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...
in
Galicia, Spain, in the mouth of the
Ria de Vigo. They were declared a
Nature 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, funga, or features of geologic ...
in 1980 and are included in the
Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park (''Parque Nacional Marítimo-Terrestre das Illas Atlánticas de Galicia'') created in 2002.
The archipelago

The Cíes consist of three islands, Monteagudo ("Sharp Mount" or North Island), do Faro ("Lighthouse Island", or Illa do Medio, "Middle Island") and San Martiño ("Saint Martin" or South Island).
Monteagudo is separated from the Morrazo
peninsula
A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula.
Etymology
The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
by the North Canal while San Martiño is separated from the coast of Santoulo
cape
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...
(mount Ferro) by the Freu da Porta
Strait. The Do Faro island is linked to the North island by an accumulation of sand long known as Rodas
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...
, in the eastern side of the island. During
high tide the sea flows between the islands in the western side and, blocked by the beach it fills the
lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...
between the sandy area and the rocks. The highest peak is the ''Alto das Cíes'' () in Monteagudo.
The islands formed by the end of the
Tertiary, when some parts of the coast sank, creating the ''
rías'' ("estuaries"). All three islands are the peaks of the coastal mountains now partially under the sea and are formed mainly of
granitic rock.
The land is mountainous with rough, nearly vertical
cliffs of more than on the western side, and numerous
caves (''furnas'') formed by
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...
from the sea and the wind. The eastern side is less steep, covered by
woods and
bushes and protected from the Atlantic winds, allowing the formation of beaches and
dunes.
Atlantic
squalls pass over the islands, unloading as they collide with the coast. Therefore, the Cíes receive more or less half the quantity of rain as the rest of the
Rías Baixas.
Nature reserve
Due to the high natural value of this area and to the deterioration it was suffering by human activity, it was declared a Nature Reserve in 1980. The level of legal protection varied until November 21, 2000, when the
Galician Parliament unanimously agreed to apply for the status of
National Park
A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
to the central Government. The
Spanish Congress of Deputies signed a definite agreement in June 2002, creating the National Land-Marine Park of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia, formed by a number of
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
s,
islands and
cays, namely the Cíes,
Ons,
Sálvora, , Vionta,
Cortegada Island and the .
The marine part of the Park is measured as a 100-meter-wide strip from the shore in
low tide. Since 1992,
underwater fishing is forbidden in the islands.
National Parks
A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...
are nature areas nearly untransformed by human activity that, based on their
landscape
A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
,
geological
Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...
or
ecosystems
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
possess
aesthetic
Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,'' , acces ...
,
ecologic,
educative or
scientific
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
values worth of special protection. Therefore, the activities that alter or endanger the stability of the ecosystem are forbidden. Some traditional activities (like traditional fishing) are allowed as long as they are compatible with the environment and the preservation of natural resources.
Since 1988, the Islands have a status of ''ZEPA'' (''Zona de Especial Protección para las Aves'', Spanish for
Special Protection Area for Birds), and they are included in the
Natura 2000 network, which develops
European Union Directives in relation to
habitats and
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s.
It contains one of the main colonies of the
yellow-legged gull.
The ''ZEPAs'' are protected mainly to avoid
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...
and general deterioration of the places used by birds permanently or during their migrations.
Tourism
In summer, boats link Monteagudo with the ports of
Vigo
Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...
,
Baiona and
Cangas.
There is a
camping area but permissions have to be reserved at the Vigo port.
A supermarket, a visitor center and a restaurant cater for visitors.
There are no waste bins on the islands.
Visitors are required to take their litter back to the mainland. The Cíes Islands are composed of nine beaches with fine white sand and clear waters. In February 2007 the British newspaper
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
chose the
beach of Rodas, on the island of Monteagudo, as "the best beach in the world." "''Galegos come here to spend long, lazy summer days on the Praia das Rodas, a perfect crescent of soft, pale sand backed by small dunes sheltering a calm lagoon of crystal-clear sea''", says the magazine. In 2022, the island was chosen by the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', as one of the ''52 Places for a Changed World'', due to its efforts "to protect its environment and guard against
overtourism".
Flora
The
scrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
is formed mainly of
autochthonous species, like
gorse,
broom,
asparagus
Asparagus (''Asparagus officinalis'') is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus (genus), Asparagus'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable.
Description ...
, spurge flax (''
Thymelaea'') or rockrose (''
Cistaceae'').
The
woodland has suffered bigger alterations, since most native species like the
common fig or the pyrenaean oak (
Quercus pyrenaica) are now reduced to symbolic representation by the reforestation of nearly one fourth of the surface with
pine trees and
eucalyptus
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...
. On the other hand, the strong winds with a high content in salt act as barrier in the development of the trees.
Some rare and representative coastal species do grow in the dunes, beaches and cliffs under very extreme climatic conditions, as the sea pink (''
Armeria pungens''; in
galician ''herba de namorar'' or "love plant"), locally endangered, and an important number of ''camariñas'' (galician common name for ''
Corema album''), an
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
species from the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
western coast.
Typically
marshland flora (like
rushes) grow in the area of the lagoon.
Fauna
There is a large colony of seagulls, about 22,000 pairs, and they are the dominant species in Cíes. A census in 1960 counted 400 pairs of Iberian guillemots (''
Uria aalge albionis''), a species now almost extinct on the islands. Other species include birds of prey, pigeons,
petrels, pelicans, doves, woodpeckers and other types of bird, which nest in trees and cliffs. Also, there are a variety of birds wintering or resting on their
migratory journeys here. In the ''Alto da Campa'' (Illa do Faro) and in the ''Faro do Peito'' (San Martiño), there are ornithological observatories. The waters around the islands are rich in biodiversity, attracting whales, dolphins, and sharks including
blue sharks and
basking sharks.
Life and seabed
The underwater area surrounding the Cíes forms one of the richest ecosystems on the Galician coast. The most remarkable thing is an important forest of brown algae.
The perimeter of the islands has different types of environments: the cliffs, exposed to strong waves, are populated by barnacles and mussels. In its underwater part, very rocky, you can find crabs, spider crabs, lobsters and octopuses. On the beaches of the most protected areas there are many bivalve molluscs, as well as turbot, plaice and sole. The rocky but protected areas of the interior of the islands are populated by true forests of anemones and numerous sea urchins.
The waters surrounding the Cíes are usually visited by dolphins, whales and sea turtles.
The water circulation system that enters and leaves the Galician estuaries and the mixture of fresh and salt water favor the concentration of nutrients and microorganisms that are a source of food for the rest of the marine species.
Archaeological remains can also be observed on these seabeds.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cies Islands
Archipelagoes of the Atlantic Ocean
Archipelagoes of Spain
National parks of Spain
Special Protection Areas of Spain
Landforms of Galicia (Spain)
Protected areas of Galicia (Spain)
Islands of the North Atlantic Ocean