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Cities and places in Spain

Spain's Islands

From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, from the big tourist islands to uninhabited islets: island Spain, island by island.

Spain's best-known islands belong to its two big archipelagos, the Balearics in the Mediterranean and the Canaries in the Atlantic, far apart and very different. But the country also has many smaller islands, some beautiful and little known, others uninhabited but interesting for their history.

The Balearics

The Balearic Islands lie in the western Mediterranean, between Spain and Sardinia. The main islands are Mallorca, the largest, with the capital Palma and the Serra de Tramuntana; Menorca, a green, quiet biosphere reserve; Ibiza, famous for nightlife but also for its history and nature; and Formentera, with the most Caribbean-like beaches in the Mediterranean. The archipelago also includes Cabrera, a national park, and small islands such as Dragonera off Mallorca, S'Espalmador between Ibiza and Formentera, and the spectacular rock of Es Vedrà off Ibiza's west coast. Balearic beaches are generally pale, from white to gold, with turquoise water.

The Canaries

The Canary Islands lie thousands of kilometres away in the Atlantic, off Africa, almost at the latitude of the Tropic of Cancer. They are volcanic islands with a subtropical climate and often black sand beaches. There are eight inhabited islands: Tenerife, the largest and most populous, with Teide; Gran Canaria, with Las Palmas and the Maspalomas dunes; Lanzarote, with Timanfaya park; Fuerteventura, with its long beaches, a biosphere reserve; La Palma, with the Caldera de Taburiente and astronomical observatories; La Gomera, with the UNESCO-listed Garajonay forest; El Hierro, the wildest; and tiny La Graciosa.

The smaller islands

  • Cíes and Ons islands, in Galicia, at the mouths of the Vigo and Pontevedra rías: part of the Atlantic Islands National Park, with white sand beaches, such as the famous Rodas, that look tropical, although the water is cold. Access is limited, by boat from Vigo and other ports in summer.
  • Tabarca, off Alicante, the only inhabited islet in the Valencian Community, with an eighteenth-century fortified village founded for Genoese ransomed from the Tunisian town of Tabarka, and a marine reserve.
  • The Columbretes, volcanic islets off Castellón, a nature reserve.
  • Alborán, an islet in the sea of the same name, between Spain and Morocco, inhabited only by a small navy detachment.
  • The plazas de soberanía: besides the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, Spain owns a few small territories on the African coast, such as the Chafarinas islands, a nature reserve, the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, the Alhucemas islands and the islet of Perejil, the subject of a brief diplomatic clash with Morocco in 2002.
  • Pheasant Island (Isla de los Faisanes), on the Bidasoa river on the French border: a Franco-Spanish condominium, administered by each country in turn for six months. The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed here in 1659.

Which island to choose

For nightlife, Ibiza and parts of Mallorca and Tenerife; for families and nature, Menorca, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria; for the finest sea, Formentera and Menorca; for hiking and landscapes, Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and Mallorca's Tramuntana; for winter, the Canaries without a doubt. See also the geography of Spain.