Ode to the Cíes Islands
When she was little and lived in Vigo she didn't have a boat, but she had something better: a friend with a boat . On days when the weather was good, there was no better plan than sailing towards the Cíes, drop anchor and shiver with cold in its transparent water until reaching the nuclear white sand by swimming.
That which on her day seemed of an astonishing normality has been acquiring over the years the rank of the extraordinary. Many years later, on the beaches of Sicily or Thailand, when my traveling companions commented in amazement on the fineness and cleanliness of the sand, I always commented that Cíes was even better.
Panoramic view of the island of San Martiño
The islands have always been there, ** guarding the entrance to the Vigo estuary **, marking the arrival of bad weather with their mist-covered or clear profile, visited regularly by some but ignored by many others because of so much contemplation in the horizon daily became invisible.
There were those who always went to camp there in summer, the few - less and less - who lived there, pirate stories , the ruins of medieval convents, of the industrial and maritime past and little else. There were many people from Vigo and Galicia who they found no reason to approach the islands and many others who thought that it was better this way, that they stayed for those who knew how to appreciate them.
This is how the islands are sensed from Vigo
Although they had been declared a natural park since the 1980s, the newspaper ** The Guardian had to arrive in 2007 ** naming Rodas beach as the best in the world for many to stick out their chests and notice that the Cíes could indeed be an incredible place.
Rodas Beach, Cies Islands
Was it really, is it, that of Rhodes the best beach in the world or was that just a selection made to impress and a very profitable tourist attraction? Lists (which we love) are always subjective and could be discussed for hours, but welcome if helped put him on the international radar something we have at the door of the house; we have become so accustomed to the destruction of the coast in the form of hotels and housing developments that finding almost intact sites seems like a small miracle.
Today is impossible mention the Cíes without the word “paradise” appearing and it has had to limit daily access due to the flood of tourists and visitors who come to see them, especially in summer.
Figueiras beach, with its perfect nudist corner
What can be done in Cíes? Sleeping in a luxury hotel is not: the only possible accommodation is the campsite that has been open for years either anchor nearby by boat (if you have your own boat or friends with it, of course). This the battle restaurant that will never be part of the most elegant or modern sites you have visited but it will not be necessary because the product they use is unparalleled and The localization is (and this, for once, is not a cliché) unique. And a little more.
Cíes Islands (now with a museum in Vigo)
Or little less: in Cíes you can roast in the sun , pick you up in the shade of the pine trees that reach the sand, dive in some waters you thought only existed in the Caribbean , walk the trails through the woods until you reach the nudist beach, look at the rocks where the seagulls nest, decide if your favorite island is Moteagudo, Faro or San Martiño…
A whole microworld less than an hour from the most populous city in Galicia that achieves that magical effect that only a few places on earth have: a few hours here feel like several days at the Relaxo ranch . Not to mention camping and waking up watching the sunrise over the Atlantic. An accessible experience of those that raise your beauty bar.
Owner and lady of the Cíes: do not underestimate the power of a seagull
Procedures have been started for the Cíes to be recognized as part of the Heritage of humanity by unesco . I hope they succeed, but if they don't, nothing will change; They have always been for us.
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This could be you looking across the Atlantic from the Queen's Chair