Illa Conillera is an island of the north west seaboard of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

island of

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

. The island is also known as Conejera or Sa Conillera. The island is west of the town of

Sant Antoni de Portmany Sant Antoni de Portmany (; ), or simply Sant Antoni (), is a town on the western coast of Ibiza, the second-largest town and municipality on the island. It is situated on Sant Antoni Bay on the west coast of the island, part of the Spain autono ...

and is one of the smaller islands of the Balearic

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

Description

The island has an area of approximately and is an elongated shape running north to south of a distance of . The island is mostly surrounded by deep water with a steep coastal perimeter.

Lighthouse

The lighthouse on ''Illa Conillera'' was built in 1857. The tower sits above a circular building, the two rooms to the side are extensions added to the main structure in the year 1908. It is at the north west end of the island and the lantern is above sea level. Under normal condition the light has a range of . The appearance of the light is of a group of four bright flashes every 20 seconds. During the day the lighthouse is seen as an tall white washed tower.

Ecology

Flora

The land is rocky and arid which supports very little vegetation apart from such shrubs and herbs as

Rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean r ...

Thyme Thyme () is a culinary herb consisting of the dried aerial parts of some members of the genus ''Thymus (plant), Thymus'' of flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are native to Eurasia and north Africa. Thymes have culinary, medici ...

and

Rue ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of the genus '' Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Mediterranean. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for i ...

, which grow in abundance here. The island is also sparsely covered with Mastic, Stunted pines and

Juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

(Sabina), many of which the wind has beaten into shrubby forms which dot this harsh landscape with green patches.

Fauna

There have been several endemic species recorded as living on the island. There is a type of

cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

, whose monotonous, rattle snake like chirping can be heard all over the island. There is also a sub-species.Info on Sub-species of wall lizards
of the Ibizan wall lizard on the island. It is also home to a colony of the endangered bird of prey called

Eleonora's falcon Eleonora's falcon (''Falco eleonorae'') is a medium-sized falcon. It belongs to the hobby group, a rather close-knit number of similar falcons often considered a subgenus ''Hypotriorchis''. The sooty falcon is sometimes considered its closest rel ...

. The island also has a large population of

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

s and

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

. By far the most numerous inhabitants of the island are the rabbits from which the island gets the name ''Rabbit Island''.

The Hannibal legend

There is a legend attached to the island that claims that the Carthaginian General

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

was born on the island.Diario de Ibiza (Spanish)
/ref> The story is that Hannibal's father

Hamilcar Barca Hamilcar Barca or Barcas (; – 228BC) was a Ancient Carthage, Carthaginian general and statesman, leader of the Barcid family, and father of Hannibal, Hasdrubal Barca, Hasdrubal and Mago Barca, Mago. He was also father-in-law to Hasdrubal the F ...

and his wife were aboard a warship and as they passed around the coast of Ibiza they were caught out by a particularly bad storm. Hamilcar ordered his captain to find a safe haven to ride out the storm. The ship sought shelter in an inlet on the south side of the island. Hamilcar's heavily pregnant wife was taken ashore and the party took shelter in a cave within the cliffs of the island. Within a short time, and at the will of the gods,

Tanit Tanit or Tinnit (Punic language, Punic: 𐤕𐤍𐤕 ''Tīnnīt'' (JStor)) was a chief deity of Ancient Carthage; she derives from a local Berber deity and the consort of Baal Hammon. As Ammon is a local Libyan deity, so is Tannit, who represents ...

and

Bes BES or Bes may refer to: * Bes, Egyptian deity * Bes (coin), Roman coin denomination * Bes (Marvel Comics), fictional character loosely based on the Egyptian deity Abbreviations * Bachelor of Environmental Studies, a degree * Banco Espírito S ...

, she gave birth to Hannibal. The cave on the southern side of the island is called ''sa Casa d'Annibal'' to this day.

Pirates

Several years ago three skeletons were found on the islands. They were carbon dated to the early part of the sixteenth century and are believed to be the remains of pirates who had been taken to the island for execution. One of the skeletons had a lead bullet lodged in his spine whilst the other two showed signs of other torture. One of the torture victims had been beheaded, but his skull appeared nowhere on the island.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conillera, Illa Islets of Ibiza Uninhabited islands of Spain Hannibal Tanit