History and Heritage of the Cíes Islands

The Cíes islands were a transit zone for Palaeolithic and Neolithic people. They did not become a settlement until the Bronze Age. The town of "As Hortas" on the slope of Mount Faro dates to this time and other references to similar structures in the Alto da Campa summit, are still pending verification. This Bronze Age-Roman settlement, based on the structures and remains found there, is comprised of a set of natural shelters of which worth highlighting is the so-called "Altar of the Druids", which resembles a skull with grooves on its surface that many interpreted as a sacrificial altar in honour of the gods. The "shell middens" (deposits formed by remains of shells and bones) found there inform us that the people's diet mainly consisted of shellfish and fish from nearby waters. Findings of ceramics with motifs similar to those on the peninsula indicate that islanders had commercial ties with coastal people. Although speculated that these islands were part of the Cassiterides islands named by the Greeks, the implicit allusion in the place name to Cassiterite- tin- and the absence of this metal in the interior of the islands, make us think that, if true, they could only have been a trading place for this metal. The Romans who sailed the Mare Tenebrosum (Sea of Darkness) called the islands "The Islands of the Gods".

There are no known remains or documentation of possible settlers here right from Roman times to the appearance of the first hermits on the islands. This dark period of the islands coincides with the rise of the Swabian and Norman invasions along these coasts that lasted until the 11th century. The Roman legacy of Christianisation throughout the Galician territory, which converted the fierce Swabians, was the origin of the proliferation of religious orders in the Middle Ages.

King Alfonso III donated the islands in 899 to the Cathedral of Santiago. In the 11th and 12th centuries, two small monasteries were built on the Cíes Islands: on the Middle Island - San Esteban - and on the South Island - San Martin. The monks that settled exercised functions of control and administration over their little congregation. Successive Galician kings confirm the donation of the islands to the church because the monasteries were attached to the Benedictine order in 1152 and to the Franciscan order in 1377. These new religious communities maintained a feudal system with the settlers that continued until the middle of the 16th century. They cultivated rye, corn and wheat and tended to free grazing animals in the abundant pastures: goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits and pigs, which formed the basis of their diet completed with fish. Land was fertilized with seaweed and contained plenty of water. Conflicts with the Spanish monarchy arose at the end of the Middle Ages as a result of a change in the international overseas scenario. This resulted in the use of the islands as a fishing ground and refuge for foreign ships. The new invaders (Turks, Tunisians, and English) converted the islands into a very insecure place due to continuous attacks such as those of the pirate Francis Drake who attacked the Ría de Vigo and ravaged the Cíes Islands.

The victorious battle of Rande in 1702 against the Anglo-Dutch squadron is famous since it left legends about treasures hidden in Spanish ships sunk in these waters. The ecclesiastical abandonment was due in part to the internal conflicts of the church, but also to a greater extent due to these new pirate attacks that continued well into the 18th century - the Modern Age. During this time – mid-16th to 18th centuries- the harassed population of the islands experienced a system similar to the old monastic system in which the governance of the then Sias Islands was administered by nobles from the town of Baiona, and the islands became known as Bayona or Bayona Islands in the eighteenth century. The insecurity situation forced the islanders to abandon the islands. This maritime chaos, pirates and trade routes ensued in several fortifications of the Cíes Islands, which resulted in an artillery warehouse in 1810 located in the former monastery of San Esteban, which then became the barracks of the Kingdom's Police Force and a prison near the Nuestra Señora beach. In the early 19th century, these defence constructions conferred a situation of greater confidence and promoted repopulation and installation of new activities on the islands.

The islands came under the jurisdiction of the town of Vigo in 1840 and by this time, two salting plants were installed there: one on North Island where the current Rodas Restaurant is located and the other on South Island with warehouse and dock included. The "La Isleña" tavern situated near the lake catered to many sailors and was a prosperous place. The Cíes Lighthouse was built in 1852. Competition from canning companies on the nearby coast caused a decline of salting activity and the plants were converted to warehouses in 1900. Reports say that the lake was used as a lobster nursery at that time.

Natives from Cangas whose numbers declined in the mid-twentieth century populated the small settlement on the Cíes islands. Their livelihood was based on agriculture (potatoes, corn and vegetables) and fishing for self-consumption, besides engagement in occupations such as caretakers or seasonal workers in the salting plants. They met in the (La Isleña and the Casa del Chuco) taverns and hunted. Some islanders left when the salting plants closed, but others earned a living selling their fish catch along the coast, and the people from the coast used this territory to graze their cattle.

The wealthy classes showed a growing interest in island tourism at the beginning of the 20th century, which coincided with the depopulation of settlers, and led to visits to the islands in small groups. There was an influx of massive tourism from 1960 onwards, and studies conducted on the natural wealth of these islands indicated the need to protect them.

The Cíes Islands archipelago was declared a Natural Park in 1980, and it became part of the Galician Atlantic Islands National Park in 2002.

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