National Park Cabrera
Our engine is working again! Just in time for the arrival of our new crew member for the next few days. Peter's cousin Daniel has extended his vacation after his cruise ended in Palma, coincidentally at exactly the same time as we are there.
We pick him up from the airport and take the bus to Sa Rapitá, where our boat is still moored. Our destination for the next two days is the Cabrera National Park, several islands to the south of Mallorca. It's only 13 nautical miles and we sail the distance in 2.5 hours with on a beam reach. We moor in the well-protected bay on the largest island at a mooring buoy laid out by the national park.
The next day, we want to explore the island on foot. We moor our dinghy at the jetty of the small taverna and find out about the possible excursion destinations. There are only a few paths in the national park that can be walked on without a guide in order to protect nature. There are some endemic plant species on the island that are either only found on the Balearic Islands or only on Cabrera.
We decide to head towards the lighthouse first. The path winds along the bay and then up the hill. It ends with a view of the lighthouse, as it is cordoned off and you are only allowed to enter this part with national park rangers. We decide to take a break and watch a few lizards. At first they are still very cautious and only make brief appearances. So we keep quiet. As time goes by, they become bolder and bolder, scurrying around not only between our feet but even on our shoes and lower legs. The dark backpack is also very popular and one particularly cheeky one even climbs up and falls into the open backpack without further ado. Fortunately, he is out again just as quickly as he was in.
We leave the lizards behind us and head back towards the museum. Unfortunately, the museum is closed, but we take a walk through the small botanical garden, which shows the plants that grow in the national park. From there, we continue up to the French Monument. Here we learn that this idyllic island has a very dark past. After a battle in the Spanish War of Independence, around 18,000 French prisoners (according to one source) were exiled to the island. From 1809 to 1814, they were held there with little or no care. Due to the poor living conditions, only 3000-4000 survived. (Read more about Cabrera’s history below the blog.)
The last thing on the agenda is the castle above the entrance to the bay, but before that we fortify ourselves with Corsican sausage and Spanish cheese. At the foot of the castle you already have a beautiful view over the bay, but we want to go further up. You have to be reasonably slim and don’t be afraid of heights to get up the narrow spiral staircase made of stone, we even get stuck with our rucksacks. We enjoy the view across the bay and to Mallorca and some of the other islands belonging to the national park.
Before heading back to the boat, we stop at the small taverna, where, curiously enough, two other groups from Austria are sitting. As thunderstorms with squalls and hail are forecast for the next day, we decide without further ado to spend another night in the well-protected bay.
In the morning, the park rangers warn every boat about the thunderstorm that is due to arrive in the afternoon and recommend setting out a second line at the mooring buoy. We do as recommended and also do a few other things: we tie the dinghy (our small inflatable boat) to the foredeck, tie the headsail and the sail bag from the mainsail, stow the solar panels below deck and remove the bimini (our sun protection). Some of our boat neighbors do the same, while others don't even close the sail bag (a “loose” sail can not only tear in a storm, but also exert more force on the boat and, in turn, on the mooring buoy). We spend the rest of the afternoon playing board games and waiting for the storm. Fortunately, it only grazes us and the maximum gusts are only 20-25 knots (40 km/h). It rains briefly and then it's over again. So we can set everything up again before the sun goes down.
The next day we head back to Sa Rapitá in similarly good sailing conditions, but this time to the marina. There we spend one last cozy evening with Daniel before he heads back home the next day. Nice that we were able to infect you with the sailing virus 😉
We really enjoyed the peace and quiet on the small island and can highly recommend taking the detour.
Cabrera’s History
The Spanish War of Independence lasted from 1807 to 1814. Napoleon wanted to involve the Portuguese in the trade blockade against the British and initially only demanded the right of passage through Spain. However, his troops nevertheless occupied Spain, placed King Charles and his son Ferdinand under house arrest and in turn made his brother Joseph King of Spain. The Spanish population rebelled against the French and their new king. The rural population defended themselves with pitchforks and other simple weapons against the invaders and their modern guns and bayonets. By 1814, this guerrilla war had probably cost the lives of 200,000 to 300,000 Frenchmen and more than twice as many on the Spanish side. [1]
Around 18,000 prisoners from the Battle of Bailén in 1808 were brought to Cabrera. It is said that only between 3,000 and 4,000 survived. The memoirs of some survivors describe scenes of torture, starvation, desperate attempts to escape, suicide and even cannibalism.
It is difficult to find any reference to the treatment in the press from 1809 onwards. One of the exceptions can be found in an article published in the “Diario de Palma” on August 24, 1813: “Humanity cries out in horror. It shakes the hardest heart to see three thousand or more men abandoned on a deserted and uninhabited island, in the open, naked and even starving. If they were cruel, armed enemies, we should not retaliate in cold blood with the most cruel tortures. Religion forbids it, and nature is disturbed. There has never been such behavior in the dungeons of Algiers and Tunis, nor in the brutality of the Tartars. This seems to be nothing more than sending people to the grave before they die. Yes, the island of Cabrera is the prisoners' grave. Is this credible in Spain, in the heart of Catholicism?”, wondered this editorial while the War of Independence was still raging.
It all began with the surrender of around 20,000 invading soldiers and the signing of the surrender of Andújar three days later. In it, the French undertook to leave Andalusia and surrender their weapons, while Spain guaranteed the lives of the wounded until they could be repatriated to France. However, on August 10, 1808, the Spanish authorities realized that there were not enough ships to transport the prisoners and the British were asked for help. The British agreed and sent the French on a journey through Andalusia to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where the prisoners had to endure their first hardships due to poor rations and dysentery. The military governor of Cádiz then decided to get rid of them. The Gauls began to lose hope of gaining their freedom.
After several months of crossing with an unknown destination, some of the ships landed on the Canary Islands and the rest, around 10,000 prisoners, on Mallorca. When this second contingent was due to dock in Palma, there were huge protests from the local authorities and population, forcing the ships to change course and unload the prisoners on the island of Cabrera. The Spanish population felt justified resentment after the betrayal of Napoleon, who had promised to cross Spain peacefully to invade Portugal, but then set about conquering and razing to the ground all the towns in his path, committing all kinds of atrocities against the population.
So the rejection was great and after a year-long journey, the French prisoners ended up on this island of just 16 square kilometers with no buildings or resources to survive. In this natural prison, which was in operation for five years and one month, the prisoners were crammed together in inhumane conditions and had hardly any resources. Just a few wild goats and a small spring with a trickle of water. The hope that this odyssey was just a stopover on the way to France gradually faded. [2]
In theory, supplies arrived at Cabrera every four days while Spanish and British warships kept watch. The only source of fresh water dried up in midsummer. The few goats and rabbits on the island were quickly hunted and eaten. By the end of the first month, 62 men had died (an annual mortality rate of 20%). Between May 1809 and December 1809, 1700 soldiers died. In 1810, only 17 of a 75-man unit of the Imperial Guard were still alive. The highest-ranking officer wrote that “they were all practically naked, pale and emaciated: they had not eaten for so long that they looked like skeletons”. During the four-day interruption of the food supply, more than 400 men died. Halfway through their captivity, the men's morale plummeted due to starvation and the realization that they would never return. The prisoners cooked their own clothes, ate poisonous plants and, it is said, began to devour their own excrement and the bodies of their dead comrades. The men went mad and took refuge in caves, where they recorded the messages of despair that have now been discovered. They were the so-called Tartars. When Napoleon's forgotten prisoners were finally repatriated in 1814, only 2,500 of the original 12,000 prisoners were still alive. [3]
In 1890, the island became the property of the Feliu family, who introduced viticulture and promoted the repopulation of the island. In 1916, it was expropriated by the Ministry of Defense for strategic reasons and a small permanent garrison of thirty men was established. In the 1940s, it was converted into a military base and maneuver area for the army. In 1988, the Parliament of the Balearic Islands finally initiated the process of declaring the Cabrera archipelago a maritime-terrestrial national park, which was completed in March 1991, making Cabrera officially a national park. [4]
Sources (translated from German and Spanish):
[1] Spanien vs. Napoleon: „Franzosen wurden in kochendes Öl geworfen“ - WELT
[2] «Cabrera, el sepulcro de los prisioneros franceses»: el primer campo de concentración de la historia fue español (abc.es)
[3] Del canibalismo a la locura: el atroz destino de los 12.000 de Napoleón en la isla de Cabrera (elconfidencial.com)
[4] Parques Nacionales. Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica (cnig.es)