Cíes Marine National Park " The Galician Caribbean"

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It is a Marine Park and probably the best place I have ever seen in Spain about

nature and wildlife. About 85 percent is underwater.



The great thing is that it is only a stone throw to the mainland, about nine miles away from Vigo city (15 kilometers).



That time I was not alone, as always, but with my cousin David that kindly

accompanied me, here, in this beautiful island.



There could not be better place than this one for a bit of respite and to escape from

the great stress of the ordinary life.



The flora is abundant in the Cíes Islands. Numerous trails wind around the islands and

we went for some exploration of the surroundings.



Along the way we admired the great population of eucalyptol and pine trees forest that combined with the

turquoise colour of the water seemed to be landed on another world.



That was absolutely fabulous!!!! Not allowed cars and bicycles, also a limited number of

tourists is permitted in the prestine Marine Park.



That was a different world from the one that we all know. But who knows if one day

money and concrete will get here, as well, to spoil even this beautiful gem of the

Atlantic.



Jaw-dropping landscape at every look out point and also an abundant fauna with

those beautiful yellow-legged herring gulls that were numerous flying around us.



One of those gulls seemed not to fear the people, as we approached to it. We made it till

the lighthouse where a gentle breeze of the morning and the warm heat of the sun

caressed us and made us feel pleased by this sensation of freedom high up in the

sky.



History is interesting too. Just at the end of the Bronze Age came a new population

to inhabit the islands. "The Castros" built settlements on high grounds and hills with

fortifications to protect their huts.



They had stone tools and rudimentary, thick ceramics.



In the first century BC, the Gallaecia tribes fought the Roman army. The Romans

had to fight a lot of battles before eventually conquered the whole NorthWest

peninsula. One of the places where the battles were fought was Rodas beach.



Religious figures as monks, as well, inhabited the islands in the 6th century AD.



Even though these religious communities were attacked by the Normans, they still

got to prospered and dominate the population with a feudal system.



In the mid 16th century, the population started to abandon the islands due to

attacks by the Turks, Tunisians and the British.



Due to the constant attacks, the archipelago was fortified in the 19th century and a

small population remained on the islands, the majority from Cangas.



in the 1950s massive tourism arrived and this led the authorities to protect the

natural beauty of the islands. In 1980 the Cíes Islands were declared a National Park.



As a nature lover and with the idea that the contact with the nature is very

important - in this frenetic listyle that people have nowadays and that the gap

between us and the natural world is ever widening causing us a lot of distress and

unhapiness - I really hope that this magical place can remain untouched for as long

as possible.

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