An environmental restoration action in the surroundings of Serafín Bar, on Monteagudo Island, made it possible to recover an area that functioned as a dumping site for decades. The work, carried out by the National Park team, is part of the interventions aimed at restoring degraded spaces and promoting the recovery of native vegetation.
The removal of the deepest layers of plant waste uncovered an unexpected testimony to everyday life on the Cíes Islands during much of the 20th century: hundreds of glass bottles, many of them belonging to commercial brands that have since disappeared.
Among the recovered materials were soda bottles from the Barreiros brand, as well as containers from Aliados, one of them with the particular feature of preserving an old telephone number consisting of only three digits. Containers of different sizes from other traditional brands, now discontinued, were also found.
Beyond the removal of the waste, these objects provide information about the consumption habits and activities of the people who lived or worked on the islands, as well as the visitors who came to the archipelago during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
The intervention therefore has a dual dimension. On the one hand, it makes it possible to restore the soil and facilitate the regeneration of native vegetation, especially in an area where work is also being carried out to control exotic species. On the other hand, the recovered materials constitute small fragments of the social memory of the Cíes Islands.
The removal of this old landfill also helps reduce the presence of waste that could affect the soil, fauna, and flora. An environmental restoration action that, unexpectedly, also became a window into the islands' recent past.
