Spain’s Cíes Islands: The Best Beach in the World?
As last school year was drawing to an end, the weather had heated up and the sun had decided to come out, so a handful of friends and I decided to hop on the train south to Vigo to catch the next ferry for the Cíes Islands, which are home to what was called the “world’s best beach” in 2007 by the British newspaper The Guardian. It was a glorious daytrip from Santiago and a much-needed break from the rolling hills and rain of inland Galicia. No caption necessary The three Cíes islands form an archipelago that guards the entrance to an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean called the Ría de Vigo . From north to south, the three islands are named Monteagudo (“pointy mountain”), Montefaro (“lighthouse mountain”), and San Martiño (“St. Martin’s”). Why are the beaches the best? Sandbar connecting the middle and northern islands The beaches on the Cíes Islands (pronounced “THEE-ays” [ˈθi.es]) are so wonderful partly because they belong to the Atlantic Islands of Galicia Nation