Pheasant Island, located between France and Spain, bizarrely changes countries twice a year.

Sheltered in the borderlands between Hendaye, France, and Irun, Spain, on the Bidasoa river flowing to the Bay of Biscay, the perplexing island is presided over by each nation for six months in turn and is a historical record of the rivalry between the countries.

Border irregularities are found throughout Europe – and the world – but a 200m-long island that swaps countries biannually is unfathomably odd. And few, curiously, know much about Pheasant Island at all.

**Pheasant Island is located on the Bidasoa River between Hendaye, France, and Irun, Spain

Source: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20221103-north-macedonias-quirky-micronation

Pheasant Island, browed with trees and elliptical in shape, lies just 10m from the Spanish side of the river and 20m from the French. It's of such historical importance that it's only rarely opened to visitors. At the centre was an enormous, inscribed monolith, shaped like a cenotaph, that gave a sense of the weight of centuries of history to the place. Tomb-like and grandstanding, it commemorates the meeting where the Treaty of the Pyrenees was negotiated in 1659.

There has been a succession of different monikers for Pheasant Island. For starters, today's name – Isla de los Faisanes in Spanish, Faisai Uhartea in Basque, Île des Faisans in French – is a mistake. "There are no pheasants on Pheasant Island," complained French novelist Victor Hugo when he visited in 1843. In fact, there are only green crested mallards and migratory birds.

The humble island finally came into prominence in 1648, following a ceasefire at the end of the Thirty Years' War between France and Spain, when it was chosen as a neutral space to demarcate the new borderlands. In fact, 24 summits took place, with military escorts on standby should talks breakdown. Eleven years later, the Treaty of the Pyrenees peace accord was struck.

To honour the occasion, a royal wedding was mooted, and, in 1660, French King Louis XIV married the daughter of King Philip IV, Maria Theresa of Spain, on the spot of the declaration. Wooden bridges were built to ease passage, royal parties arrived in state barges and carriages, and tapestries and paintings were commissioned. Diego Velázquez, court painter to Philip and whose magnum opus remains Las Meninas (a portrait of Margaret Theresa with her maids of honour) was put in charge of arranging much of the festivities.

So symbolic was Pheasant Island as a metaphor of peace, in fact, that it was decided both countries would have joint custody of the territory. Spain would hold stewardship from 1 February to 31 July each year, while Pheasant Island would become an official part of France for the other six months. In that moment, the world's smallest condominium was born.

Vacation on this island would be bliss

BOSSkesh:
Vacation on this island would be bliss

Visitors are only allowed onto the island on rare occasions: either on one of the bi-annual handover days, when the island is abuzz with activity during the official ceremony, with flags, delegates, diplomats and plenty of formal pomp; or as part of ad-hoc, occasional heritage tours.

One alarming development reverberating around the border communities, however, is the number of immigrants trying to illegally cross the river from Spain into France. The day before I arrived, a foreign national had drowned while attempting to swim across and, as Sorondo and I talked history and Basque politics, a police boat sifted through the waters looking for the body.