Santa Clara Island
Santa Clara Island is located in the middle of the bay of San Sebastian, just 500 meters from the coast, where a great natural wealth is concentrated in a small area.
It is a space of singular beauty, located at the point where land and sea converge, and situated in the middle of the bay of La Concha. Protected by the mountains, Igueldo and Urgull, with only 5.6 hectares and 48 m of altitude, it is one of the most representative spaces of Donostia.
The rocks of which the island is composed were deposited between 51 and 54 million years ago at the bottom of a submarine gulf more than 2,000 meters deep. However, during the formation of the Pyrenees, these materials rose, folded and were exposed to the elements. The continuous action of the waves formed a large bay, in which Urgull and Santa Clara existed. However, the natural accumulation of sand after the first one, and its subsequent urbanization, left Santa Clara as the only island in the middle of the bay.
It is known that in the fourteenth century there was a chapel dedicated to Santa Clara (hence its name) and that, in 1597, the year in which San Sebastian was ravaged by the plague, it sheltered the infected. It was also used as a powder and even a cemetery for heretics, excommunicated and suicides who could not be buried in consecrated ground. Today, the only building we find is the lighthouse. The lighthouse was inhabited for more than 100 years and was automated during the 1960s. It currently houses the work of sculptor Cristina Iglesias, Hondalea (for more information visit hondalea.eus).
It is worth mentioning that in 1974 it was declared a Historic Center of National Interest and during the summer season it has a bar-restaurant, bathrooms, showers, lifeguards…
The island is a very popular place for locals, as it is typical to spend the day on the island with the family or a group of friends. Take a swim, have a picnic at one of the many tables available, or disconnect from the city walking along the paths that open between meadows and woods, are just some of the pleasures that we can enjoy a few minutes by boat from the port.
Santa Clara Island is located in the middle of the bay of San Sebastian, just 500 meters from the coast, where a great natural wealth is concentrated in a small area.
It is a space of singular beauty, located at the point where land and sea converge, and situated in the middle of the bay of La Concha. Protected by the mountains, Igueldo and Urgull, with only 5.6 hectares and 48 m of altitude, it is one of the most representative spaces of Donostia.
The vegetation
You can contemplate arboreal species typical of the environment, adapted to the salinity and the strong sea winds, coexisting with trees and plants introduced by humans in their eagerness to domesticate the environment.
In this way, together with the characteristic flora of cliffs and coastal sandbanks that could be considered autochthonous (holm oaks, sea fennel or tamarisk), there are trees typical of inland forests (laurel, ash tree, fig tree, birch tree, etc…). In addition, shrubs such as privet, Japanese hedge or pitosporum have been planted along the roadsides for ornamental purposes. Finally, there are also species considered invasive exotic, such as the false acacia, which has spread considerably. All this means that the island can be considered a true botanical garden.
The vegetation
You can contemplate arboreal species typical of the environment, adapted to the salinity and the strong sea winds, coexisting with trees and plants introduced by humans in their eagerness to domesticate the environment.
In this way, together with the characteristic flora of cliffs and coastal sandbanks that could be considered autochthonous (holm oaks, sea fennel or tamarisk), there are trees typical of inland forests (laurel, ash tree, fig tree, birch tree, etc…). In addition, shrubs such as privet, Japanese hedge or pitosporum have been planted along the roadsides for ornamental purposes. Finally, there are also species considered invasive exotic, such as the false acacia, which has spread considerably. All this means that the island can be considered a true botanical garden.
The fauna
Despite the small size of the island, it is home to a large number of species of both terrestrial and marine fauna. On the coastal cliffs, colored by the yellow of the sea fennel and the pale pink of the heather, sea birds from their nests.
Santa Clara Island does not present great differences with respect to the species of birds that can be found in the rest of the coastal cliffs of San Sebastian. However, it has the particularity of being practically isolated for visitors for months, which allows it to generate quiet conditions that favor the nesting of seabirds.
The most abundant populations are the gulls, the most common being the yellow-legged gull, the black-headed gull, the gloomy seagull, considered of special interest, and the atlantic gull. You can also observe the cormorant, which feeds on fish caught under the sea and is considered a vulnerable species.
However, the most characteristic inhabitant of the island, which loves to sunbathe, is a bit elusive if we get too close. It is the island lizard, (Podarcis liolepis sebastiani) and it is a subspecies that presents notable differences with respect to the common lizard that we can find in the Basque mountains. This lizard is so special because it is endemic to Santa Clara and Urgull, or in other words, we can only find it in these two places, and nowhere else in the world…
In the sandbanks and shallows that surround the island, sometimes submerged and other times exposed to the open air, depending on the tides, an intoxicating ecosystem unfolds in which a great variety of algae and aquatic animals coexist and can be enjoyed with diving goggles and good footwear for walking on the rocks.
Some mollusks, such as limpets, karrakelas, barnacles, mussels and other crustaceans, such as balanos or sea acorns, are strongly attached to the rocks, so that they are able to be exposed to the open air during low tide since they keep the humidity inside. Different species of crabs can move on top of the rocks or submerged in the water.
During low tide it is common for small pools that are themselves small oases of life where it is easy to find different species of starfish and sea urchins, anemones, kiskillas, crabs, and even small fish that have been isolated during low tide.
When the intertidal zone becomes submerged again, its shallow depth brings in creatures such as holothurians (sea cucumbers), octopuses and even sea hares, along with numerous species of rockfish. The corcón is the easiest to distinguish given the large size it usually reaches, but we will also see the sargo, red mullet, sea bass, groups of sabirones and doncellas dancing among the waters or different types of goby resting on the bottom.
The fauna
Despite the small size of the island, it is home to a large number of species of both terrestrial and marine fauna. On the coastal cliffs, colored by the yellow of the sea fennel and the pale pink of the heather, sea birds from their nests.
Santa Clara Island does not present great differences with respect to the species of birds that can be found in the rest of the coastal cliffs of San Sebastian. However, it has the particularity of being practically isolated for visitors for months, which allows it to generate quiet conditions that favor the nesting of seabirds.
Island
The sandy nature of the rocks of the island, combined with the high humidity and salinity of the wind that lash them, has generated extraordinary alveolar structures in the form of complex cells reminiscent of honeycombs. The process is known as haloclasticity, which consists of the disintegration of the rocky surface by the growth of salt crystals, when the sun evaporates the marine humidity deposited by the sea breeze. The work Hondalea, by Cristina Iglesias, which can be enjoyed at the lighthouse, is based precisely on these structures.
