Pictured: The secret desert Spanish island you’ve never heard of – with pristine beaches and mermaid legends (and only 250 people are allowed to visit per day)
Think you’ve seen everything Spain has to offer? Think again.
Just off the Galician coast lies a three-kilometre-wide island that you’ve probably never heard of.
Isla de Salvora is part of the Maritime-Terrestrial National Park of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia in northwestern Spain.
The island is uninhabited by humans and has white sandy beaches along the rocky coast.
Until 2008 it was privately owned and tourists were not allowed to visit it, but it is now open to the public – with some restrictions.
The island of Salvora is a three kilometer wide island off the coast of Galicia and can only be visited via a private boat trip
Salvora is completely uninhabited by humans and has white sandy beaches along the rocky coast
The only way to visit the island is to book a private tour – a tour that includes a seafood lunch can be booked at getyourguide.com.
Visitors can depart from the Spanish coastal towns of La Coruna or Pontevedra. The total trip takes four and a half hours.
According to fascinatingspain.comthe island does not offer ‘modern services’ such as restaurants or washing facilities. There aren’t even any trash cans there. Tourists must collect their waste and throw it away on the mainland.
The goal, the website says, is to leave the island exactly as they found it, without any trace of human activity.
The island has a rich history and was reportedly a haven for pirates from the 16th to the 19th century.
The main attraction is a lighthouse, which visitors will learn contains a tragic shipwreck story.
In 1921, the Santa Isabel ship, also known as the Galician Titanic, sank at the foot of the lighthouse. The accident cost over 200 lives and is a well-known local story wildsea.eu.
One of Salvora Island’s attractions is the lighthouse (above), which carries a tragic story of a shipwreck
The island does not offer modern amenities such as restaurants or laundry facilities
There are no rubbish bins on the island – visitors must take their rubbish with them
Isla de Salvora is one of the Atlantic Islands of the Galicia Maritime-Terrestrial National Park
The remains now rest 15 meters (49ft) underwater and have become a refuge for marine life, including eels, lobsters and crabs. Divers can book to explore the wreck for 40 euros (£33) with Wild Sea Europe.
Visitors can also spot the Sirena de Salvora, a mermaid statue that overlooks the sea. The stone statue has a legend that a Roman knight who survived a shipwreck met a mermaid on the island and instantly fell in love.
According to fascinatingspain.comAccording to legend, they married and had a child named Marino.
Other sights include an abandoned village of traditional stone houses and an old salt factory.
Those who have visited the island call it a ‘miracle’.
One of the two reviews still standing Tripadvisor called it ‘one of the jewels of the Riberia’.
Another review of Xancinha said: ‘It is a wonderful visit, full of stories and facts, which only 250 people have access to per day.’
