Why does this border move every six months? – BBC REEL

[Music] welcome to Pheasant Island where time and space intersect in a truly bizarre way here you could be standing in France one day the next day you'll be standing in Spain how is this possible [Music] pheasant island has zero inhabitants and visitors are not allowed in except for a very few lucky guests twice a year when a special Handover ceremony takes place foreign [Music] is transferring to France the sovereignty on pheasant Island it's a very old tradition [Music] ever since humans gave up their nomadic Lifestyles and started to create settled civilizations we've Drawn Lines to Define what and where we call home these borders give us a sense of identity we say we are from this community or we are that nationality and when conflicts arise these borders violently shift sometimes both sides need somewhere to have a time out and that is what pheasant island is an ancient buffer zone between two historically powerful Nations pheasant island is not very big at all just 2 000 square meters it sits in the middle of the bidisoa river between the Spanish Town of Iran on one side and the French town of onday on the other pheasant island is a condominium which means it is administered by two countries but pheasant island is unique because it isn't run by France and Spain at the same time every six months the Border moves so the island switches nationality twice a year this makes pheasant Island the world's only temporal condominium [Music] and how we got here we have to go back to the 1600s when Europe was involved in the 30 Years War Brothers negotiations to the Treaty of the Pyrenees were held at pheasant Island which was established as a neutral ground between France and Spain sealed the piece with a royal wedding the Spanish princess Maria Teresa daughter of King Philip IV was given away to Louis XIV King of France also known as the Sun King [Music] stra is although pheasant island has been a symbol of peace between the two countries since the Treaty of the Pyrenees they only started to share custody of the island in 1856 following the Treaty of Bayonne [Music] um [Music] is the naval commander of the island for the six months that it is Spanish and his French counterpart Commander Pauline potier are taking part in the Handover for the very first time I just got into this position on the beginning of June this is kind of a legend among our military section you know to be a vice king or vice Queen of the of this island the honorific title is an inheritance that goes way back and Pauline portier is the first ever Vice Queen to rule pheasant Island I'm quite proud I have to say because to be a woman and to be the first to have this title is a sign of modernity it's a very male dominated field it might be at my little scale a symbol of a feminine empowerment France will now take care of pheasant Island until it returns sovereignty back to Spain next year [Music] foreign [Music] knows about this condominium and people are generally surprised it's a symbol of the success of diplomacy of a war and I think it's really beautiful that this condominium still exists today and also as a symbol of what we've succeeded in building with the the European Union within the European Union and today Europe is generally aboard a free zone but pheasant Island still stands as a reminder of less peaceful times three years ago it even got its own anthemum is [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: BBC Global

Views: 16,638

Keywords: bbc, bbcreel, bbcnews, factual, features

Id: z6HrAL6d1U0

Length: 7min 37sec (457 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 16 2022