Another treasure that, luckily, we can enjoy in our Vigo estuary, in this case we will talk about the Island of San Simón.

History

For years, San Simón Island suffered attacks from privateers; the English pirate Francis Drake sacked the island during the 16th century.

It was also a source of inspiration for the famous French writer Jules Verne ; let us remember that the writer in his fantastic novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea recounted how the famous Nautilus docked on the island of San Simón.

It suffered naval battles such as the Battle of Rande in 1702, which pitted the squadrons of the Anglo-Dutch and Spanish-French coalitions against each other within the context of the War of the Spanish Succession between the Habsburgs and the Bourbons.

In honor of the English victory, the city of Vigo was given a street in London, known as Vigo Street.

Pandemics

The island of San Simón became a place where patients with contagious diseases were confined as a result of the commercial boom between Asia, America and Africa, which helped the development of the port of Vigo, eventually becoming the most important port on the Spanish Atlantic coast.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the island of San Simón was closed as a quarantine space, an isolation area for infectious patients and a place for convalescents to rest, only to be reopened as a prison during the period from 1936 to 1943, where political prisoners were confined, while the island of San Antón housed the soldiers who guarded them.

Vegetation

On the island, we can appreciate how Canary Island palms mingle with horse chestnut trees, oaks, acacias, eucalyptus, Atlas cedars, Chinese privet, and Japanese camellias. The impressive Paseo de los Buxos welcomes us with its centuries-old vaulted ceiling.

In San Simón there is also a vegetable garden and nursery area to promote crop species and fruit trees that once came from other parts of the world, such as potatoes, corn or kiwi, and which influenced the agricultural landscapes of Galicia to a greater or lesser extent.

Activities

Currently, various activities are developed throughout the year, such as the international workshop on poetic translation, where poets exchange their experiences in the literary field, the Sinsal music festival , the San Simón Fiddle Camp, which is a musical course for children, and summer camps are also held.

The islands of San Simón and Santo Antón have been declared a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) since 1999, forming part of the Natura 2000 Network as a protected European natural habitat.

start of season

It can only be visited in summer, from Vigo and Cesantes; these are the access links to visit it:

All visits or activities on the island complex must be requested in advance, by written request addressed to the email address [email protected].

Access permits

All requests will be answered. If, for any reason, a response is not received, the request will be considered denied.

• VISIT, download and send to [[email protected]] this application template.
• ACTIVITY, download and send to [[email protected]] this application template.
• Boat tickets: https://isladesansimon.com

All visits that have a marked cultural and/or educational interest will be authorized, in accordance with the founding objectives of the island of San Simón.

The authorization implies acceptance and compliance with the internal regulations that will be provided to the applicant.

In general, private visits are not permitted, except for rescue needs or other extraordinary circumstances.

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