Every time I tell someone I visited Porto Santo Island, the general response I get is “Where?” I asked my mum the same question when she told me we were going on holiday there this year. Porto Santo is possibly the smallest place I have ever visited. As a whole the island has just over 5000 inhabitants and has an area of 16 sq miles. But for a small place, it has a rich history and is becoming more and more of a must-visit holiday destination. I loved my time there and was told some pretty interesting stories about the island that I thought would be nice to share!
I found it so hilarious taking this screenshot – you can’t even see the island! Possibly my favourite thing I was told about Porto Santo is that no one who lives on the island was born there. Due to the tiny population, the hospital on the island doesn’t have a fully fledged maternity ward so when a woman is nearing the end of her pregnancy, usually 2 weeks before her due date, she is flown to Madeira (the island nearest to it) where she is given free care whilst giving birth and then she flies back to Porto Santo with the new baby. Our tour guide told us that a lot of women have actually given birth whilst in flight, and when that happens, if the baby is a boy, they name him after the pilot!
This was my favourite place on the island, known as Calheta. The place is surrounded by little uninhabited islands and we were told that you probably wouldn’t even make it there if you tried because the currents are so strong. Still, I felt they add more to the ‘undiscovered’ feeling of the entire place. There was also another island, that I didn’t manage to get a picture of, known as ‘King Kong Island’ because it resembled a gorilla’s head. The whole place has a kind of magical feel, especially the beach. It’s also said by the locals that the sand on the island actually holds healing properties.
At this point of the mountain you can see the whole area, town and all. The long grey line at the right of the picture is the runway for the airport – it actually stretches the length of the entire island! One of the main points of history in Porto Santo is that they were plagued by attacks from pirates. I sadly didn’t get a decent picture, but just behind me in this photograph is an old canon that the military used to try and deter the attackers, and the cacti you can see in the picture was planted so that the pirates couldn’t climb the mountain and destroy the island’s defences. For a little island, they were ready to fight for what was theirs.
At this point of the mountain you can see the whole area, town and all. The long grey line at the right of the picture is the runway for the airport – it actually stretches the length of the entire island! One of the main points of history in Porto Santo is that they were plagued by attacks from pirates. I sadly didn’t get a decent picture, but just behind me in this photograph is an old canon that the military used to try and deter the attackers, and the cacti you can see in the picture was planted so that the pirates couldn’t climb the mountain and destroy the island’s defences. For a little island, they were ready to fight for what was theirs.
Not only that, while a lot of places come with little traditional stories, like the boogeyman, Porto Santo is no different. A long time ago a young woman called Ana Ferreira was banished to one of the island’s mountains where she lived out her days in exile, with many people coming to believe she was a witch. Since then, due to the way the mountain has eroded, when the wind blows in a certain way unusual sounds are formed and heard across the island. Many people on the island say that the sounds can be attributed to ‘the witch who lives in the mountain’, which is often told to children in the same way the boogeyman is in the USA. From this, it is now colloquially known as ‘Witch Mountain’.
As a little side note, the hotel we stayed in, the Pestana Porto Santo, had brilliant service. The last day we were there was my birthday and when we came back from the beach we found a cake they’d left me with a letter saying happy birthday!
My visit to Porto Santo was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. Whilst it was originally just a summer holiday, a time for relaxing out by the pool, it became an interesting look into the lives and history of a brilliant little island. There’s a lot more to discover and talk about in terms of Porto Santo but maybe I’ll save those stories for another day.
My visit to Porto Santo was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. Whilst it was originally just a summer holiday, a time for relaxing out by the pool, it became an interesting look into the lives and history of a brilliant little island. There’s a lot more to discover and talk about in terms of Porto Santo but maybe I’ll save those stories for another day.
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