Es Vedrà () is a small rocky island off the south western seaboard of the Spanish island of

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

.Mapa Topografico Nacional de Espana, 798 Eivissa. 1:50.000. Published: IGN – CNIG (Spain Civilian Survey): 2006. The island, which is 413 metres tall, is part of the Cala d'Hort nature reserve and lies off the coast at Cala d'Hort, which is in the municipality of Sant Josep de sa Talaia."579 Regional Map, Spain, Islas Baleares. Pub:Michelin Editions des Voyages, 2004, The island is uninhabited.The Rough Guide to Ibiza & Formentera. Pub:Rough Guides, Penguin Group, 2003,

Geology

Es Vedrà consists predominantly of

mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

The History Buff’s Guide to Ibiza. Author: Emily Kaufman. Published: Tarita, S.L.

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, and contrary to the

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

urban myth of being a special

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, m ...

place, has no (magnetic) metal accumulations. The island we see today is as a result of a geological tumble. 155 million years ago, continuous

seismic Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

movements in the Earth's crust caused great shifts in the Betica Mountain Range. Eventually this caused the splitting of the range resulting in the formation of the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

. Continued movement of the ridge which formed the islands caused portions to sheer and split away from the islands. Es Vedrà, along with the satellite island of Illa Vedranell and the Illa Tagomago, are examples of this action.

Habitation

The island has no human inhabitants, although in 1855The White Island, The Colourful History of the Original Fantasy Island, Ibiza. Author: Stephen Armstrong. Published: Corgi. a

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

friar by the name of Francis Palau y Quer once lived here for a short time following his exile from

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. The only inhabitants were a sub-species of wild goat but these were slaughtered by the local government in 2016 to protect the fauna of the island. There is also a sub-species of the Ibizan wall lizard on the island. It is also home to a colony of the endangered bird of prey called Eleonora's falcon.

Legends and mythology

The island is said to be home to sirens and sea-nymphs, who tried to lure

Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...

from his ship in

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

''. It is also thought of as the holy island of the

Tanit Tanit or Tinnit (Punic language, Punic: 𐤕𐤍𐤕 ''Tīnnīt'' (JStor)) was a chief deity of Ancient Carthage; she derives from a local Berber deity and the consort of Baal Hammon. As Ammon is a local Libyan deity, so is Tannit, who represents ...

the

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

n lunar

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

, worshiped as the patron goddess and of fertility, who became Ibiza's patroness. Legend has it that specific sacrifices were made to Tanit during full moons on the shore of the island.

The Giant of Es Vedrà

Es Vedrà is also the setting for one of Ibiza's popular

fable Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a parti ...

s (). ''Es Gegant des Vedrà'' (''The Giant of Es Vedrà'') is the tale about two brothers who, to cure their father of an incurable illness, had to go to Es Vedrà island to gather rock samphire and face the huge giant who lived on the island, huddled in one of the island's many caves. The two brothers' ingenuity, along with the help of sea urchins, managed to debilitate the giant, and thus collect the samphire for the cure.

Francis Palau y Quer

The

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

Francis Palau y Quer arrived on

following his exile from

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 1855. Needing solitude, he used to retire to Es Vedrà by rowing a boat, to pray there and seek God's will. Legend says that he spent a week

meditating Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

surviving on nothing but

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

water he collected from drips from the roof of a cave he used for shelter. Within hours, he began to witness a series of powerful visions. He later described them in a book, called ''My Relations With the church'' He started to write ''Mis Relaciones Con la Iglesia'' (''My Relations With the Church''), a sort of autobiographical journal, partly written in the idyllic solitude of Es Vedrà, transmitting his experience of the Church conceived as God and neighbors. Fr. Francisco Palau, O.C.D. was beatified in Rome by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on April 24, 1988. His liturgical feast day is commemorated on November 7.

Es Vedrà in popular culture

* The island appears on the front cover of

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

's 1996 LP '' Voyager''. * The first track on the CD compilation, by DJ Tiësto called " In Search of Sunrise 6: Ibiza", is by Es Vedrá ("La Hacienda"). * Es Vedrà features in the background of a scene in the music video of Reflekt's "Need To Feel Loved".Music video featuring Es Vedrá
/ref> * DJ and trance producers Aly & Fila collaborated with

The Thrillseekers Steve Helstrip, known by the stage name the Thrillseekers, is an English DJ and record producer. His debut single was "Synaesthesia", released in 1999. Helstrip has worked under the guises of En Motion, Insigma, Rapid Eye and Hydra. He also w ...

to produce a trance song named after this island: "Es Vedrà".Music for the track
/ref> * The island appears on all front covers of "La Roca" CD compilations from Spanish DJ Nacho Sotomayor. * Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren released in 2024 a track named "Es Vedrà". * The island and its mysteries/legends appear on Season 5, episode 3 of '' Below Deck Sailing Yacht'' entitled "Let the Bottles Hit the Floor" on October 21, 2024 and episode 4, "Mer-made a Big Mis-cake" which aired on October 28, 2024. * Es Vedrà features prominently as a mystical place worthy of protection in the novel The Life Impossible by Matt Haig, published September 3, 2024.

Gallery

File:Eleonorenfalke1.jpg, The endangered bird of prey called Eleanor's falcon File:Vedra Sonneuntergang.JPG, Sunset over Es Vedrà File:Es-vedra-island-drone.png, Es Vedrà viewed from a drone

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vedra, Es Islets of Ibiza Uninhabited islands of Spain Sirens (mythology) Tanit