Pheasant Island

The island of the conference

France and Spain were at war from 1635. To make peace their negotiators met on this island in the middle of the border river, holding 24 meetings between 13 August and 7 November 1659, the day the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed. That is why it is also called Conference Island.^[2] The treaty included a marriage between Louis XIV of France and the daughter of Philip IV of Spain.^[2]

Nobody agrees on where the name comes from. Some trace it to birds on the island; others to faisance, an old French word for a toll.^[2]

Owned by both

When France and Spain fixed their western border in the Treaty of Bayonne of 2 December 1856, they drew the line down the middle of the Bidasoa’s main channel but left the islands as they were, “so that Faisans (Faisanes) island shall continue to belong to both nations”.^[1] Article 27 says the island belongs to France and Spain pro indiviso, undivided, that the border authorities of both will jointly prosecute any offence on it, and that the two governments will share the cost of protecting it from “the destruction threatening it”.^[1]

A territory owned jointly like this is called a condominium.^[3] A further convention of 27 March 1901 set out how police and judicial matters would work.^[2]

“shall belong to France and Spain pro indiviso.”^[1]

Six months each

In practice the island takes turns. Spain has authority from 1 February to 31 July, France from 1 August to 31 January. Each side is represented by a naval commander, called a “viceroy”, an odd title for an official of the French Republic.^[2] At each changeover representatives of the two countries meet on the island and exchange papers.^[3]

The routine was broken only during the Covid pandemic, when the island stayed Spanish for two years.^[2] The island is closed to the public; it used to open to visitors on France’s heritage days. Apart from a white monument in the middle, it is just trees.^[2][3]