Archipiélago de Cabrera

Just South of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, the Cabrera Archipelago Maritime Terrestrial-National Park spreads over 19 islands and islets as well as 9,000 hectares of seabed. It was declared a Maritime-Terrestrial National Park in 1991, the first of its kind in Spain. Since then, its insular ecosystems have been the best preserved in the Spanish part of the Mediterranean. The 9,000 hectares of seabed are home to more than 200 species of fish and numerous endemic invertebrates that live in the rocks and the sand. Large meadows of Neptune grass (Posidonia oceanica) form an important part of the ecosystem, and the gigantic fan mussel (pinna nobilis), which can reach a length of 1.2 metres (making it the largest bivalve mollusc of the Mediterranean), helps keep the waters clear and in top condition thanks to their excellent filtrating capability. On the landside, the Archipelago consists of the main island, Isla de Cabrera as well as Isla Conejera and numerous islets, a total surface area of 1,000 hectares. Subject to the semiarid climate and at the mercy of the wind and the salt, the vegetation consists mainly of garrigue, which includes various endemic species. As far as the fauna is concerned, this is dominated by the archipelago’s rich birdlife. It is a stop-off place on the migratory route of more than 150 species. The most outstanding species on the islands are the Audouin’s gull and Eleonora’s falcon. In fact, the birdlife is essential for the biodiversity of the park, and no less that 23 species of bird nest there, and the large colonies of birds are the archipelago’s identifying characteristic. The steep cliff s constitute the ideal nesting ground for the many seabirds, and the yellow legged gull abounds. The park is one of the few places in Spain where Audouin’s gull breeds.

The impressive sea eagle, which is sadly a threatened species, constructs its enormous nesting platforms on ledges and in hollows, the Eleonore’s falcon with its unique mating schedule can be found in large numbers. At the end of summer, just when all other birds have finished their mating season, the Eleonore’s falcon starts his. This is a strategic delay to ensure that the young’uns will reach the peek of their demand for food just when small migrating birds stop over on their way to spend the winter in warmer climates. The archipelago has also been a stop-off point for human travellers over the millenniums. It was a strategic point on the maritime routes for successive civilisations that arrived on the coast in search of refuge and sustenance. Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, and Byzantines have all left their mark on the islands. Man was on the islands as early as in the Bronze Age, but the scarcity of agricultural land, the lack of water and the isolation of the place made permanent settlements impossible. In the 19th century, after the War of Independence, French prisoners of war were shipped to Cabrera which became a concentration camp until a peace treaty was signed in 1814, five years later. 9,000 men were left to their own devices on the island. In desperation they cut down trees for firewood and hunted animals for food, and at the end there was hardly a tree or an animal left on the island. Of the 9,000 prisoners, only 3,600 left Cabrera alive after the signing of the peace treaty. In 1847, members of a French marine squadron, on the order of the Prince de Joinville, raised an obelisk in memory of the prisoners that died on the island. The obelisk was 7 metres tall, and the ossuary which contained their remains was cemented into the base.

Cabrera also has its own resident ghost – and it is not one of the poor French soldiers. It is a German pilot, Johannes Böchler, who was killed in 1942 when his plane was shot down by a British fighter aircraft. Böchler’s dead body was retrieved from the water and buried at the island’s small cemetery. The legend has it that his family was not notified of his demise or final resting place. The pilot could not rest, and his ghost started haunting the island, terrifying the inhabitants with his apparitions. It was said that those that he sought out would die far away from home and their family never be told. Finally in 1982, 40 years after his burial, a German institution which represented those fallen in WW2 exhumed his remains and transferred them to a German military cemetery. However, the ghost carried on haunting Cabrera, and it was thought that the wrong remains had been transferred. The error was never corrected, and the ghost remained. The stark, desolate landscape of Cabrera has its own wild beauty, but man has also contributed to the overall appearance of the island. Thus, it boasts both a medieval castle, a lighthouse and various other buildings, including a bodega where wine was elaborated in the 19th century. The Ministry of Defence expropriated the island in 1916 and converted it to a military base with a small permanent garrison of some thirty personnel. Since its conversion to a National Park in 1991, the archipelago has been uninhabited.