Latest news with #LouisXIV
Scottish Sun
4 days ago
- Scottish Sun
The unusual European island that swaps nationality twice a year
Despite it's name, there are no actual pheasants on the island DOUBLE IT The unusual European island that swaps nationality twice a year DEPENING on what time of year you are near Pheasant Island, could change what country you are actually in. Only 200 metres long and 40 metres wide (making it the world's smallest condominium) it is jointly governed by both France and Spain. 4 Pheasant Island is jointly governed by France and Spain Credit: Alamy 4 The island is only 200 metres long and becoming smaller due to erosion Credit: Alamy The island changes nationality every six months, being under Spanish control from February 1 to July 31, and then French territory from August 1 to January 31. This was an agreement made on November 7, 1659 by the signing of The Treaty of the Pyrenees. The treaty was signed on Pheasant Island and consequently ended the Franco-Spanish War and established a border between the two nations. To honour the occasion, there was even a royal wedding. In 1660, French King Louis XIV married the daughter of King Philip IV, Maria Theresa of Spain, on the spot of the declaration. Their marriage was a key provision of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, and aimed to solidify the peace and reconciliation between the two countries. In the middle of the island there is a monolith, which is a commemorative stone in the centre of the island. The monolith's inscription is in Spanish on one side and French on the other. Despite its name, there are no pheasants on the island, but there is other wildlife like migratory birds, wild animals, and green crested mallards. The island can sometimes be reached on foot from the Spanish side at low tide. The little-known French island near the UK - with 60 beaches, Mediterranean-style climate & turquoise waters 4 Every six months there is a ceremony to mark the switching of sides Credit: Alamy Despite this, visitors are not allowed on the island, apart from during a few days, but this is limited to military personnel. It does open occasionally on heritage open days although these are rare. European Heritage Days (or Heritage Open Days in the UK) are an annual event where lots of historic sites, some of which are inaccessible, open their doors to the public for free. For anyone wanting have a peak at Pheasant Island, make a note of the third weekend of September as that is when France hold their Heritage Open days, called Journées du Patrimoine. It's possible, but not guaranteed that Pheasant Island will be open to the public then. On February 1 and August 1, the French and Spanish authorities conduct a formal handover of the island. Both sides perform military dress parades around the monolith before peacefully switching governance. There are still lots of areas to explore outside of Pheasant Island. It's surrounded by the Basque Country in northern Spain and is known for its mountainous terrain and rugged coastlines It's also close to the Camino de Santiago, a network of ancient, spiritual pilgrimage routes in Spain. Here's another tiny European holiday island that used to be a spa resort and cars are banned. And the unusual European city that looks like it's made entirely out of Lego.
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- The Irish Sun
The unusual European island that swaps nationality twice a year
DEPENING on what time of year you are near Pheasant Island, could change what country you are actually in. Only 200 metres long and 40 metres wide (making it the world's smallest condominium) it is jointly governed by both France and Spain. Advertisement 4 Pheasant Island is jointly governed by France and Spain Credit: Alamy 4 The island is only 200 metres long and becoming smaller due to erosion Credit: Alamy The island changes nationality every six months, being under Spanish control from February 1 to July 31, and then French territory from August 1 to January 31. This was an agreement made on November 7, 1659 by the signing of The Treaty of the Pyrenees. The treaty was signed on Pheasant Island and consequently ended the Franco-Spanish War and established a border between the two nations. To honour the occasion, there was even a royal wedding. Advertisement Read More on European Islands In 1660, French King Louis XIV married the daughter of King Philip IV, Maria Theresa of Spain, on the spot of the declaration. Their marriage was a key provision of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, and aimed to solidify the peace and reconciliation between the two countries. In the middle of the island there is a monolith, which is a commemorative stone in the centre of the island. The monolith's inscription is in Spanish on one side and French on the other. Advertisement Most read in News Travel Despite its name, there are no pheasants on the island, but there is other wildlife like migratory birds, wild animals, and green crested mallards. The island can sometimes be reached on foot from the Spanish side at low tide. The little-known French island near the UK - with 60 beaches, Mediterranean-style climate & turquoise waters 4 Every six months there is a ceremony to mark the switching of sides Credit: Alamy Despite this, visitors are not allowed on the island, apart from during a few days, but this is limited to military personnel. Advertisement It does open occasionally on heritage open days although these are rare. European Heritage Days (or Heritage Open Days in the UK) are an annual event where lots of historic sites, some of which are inaccessible, open their doors to the public for free . For anyone wanting have a peak at Pheasant Island, make a note of the third weekend of September as that is when France hold their Heritage Open days, called Journées du Patrimoine. It's possible, but not guaranteed that Pheasant Island will be open to the public then. Advertisement On February 1 and August 1, the French and Spanish authorities conduct a formal handover of the island. Both sides perform military dress parades around the monolith before peacefully switching governance. There are still lots of areas to explore outside of Pheasant Island. It's surrounded by the Basque Country in northern Spain and is known for its mountainous terrain and rugged coastlines Advertisement It's also close to the Camino de Santiago, a network of ancient, spiritual pilgrimage routes in Spain. Here's another And the 4 Pheasant Island changes nationality every six months Credit: Alamy Advertisement
The Sun
4 days ago
- General
- The Sun
The unusual European island that swaps nationality twice a year
DEPENING on what time of year you are near Pheasant Island, could change what country you are actually in. Only 200 metres long and 40 metres wide (making it the world's smallest condominium) it is jointly governed by both France and Spain. 4 4 The island changes nationality every six months, being under Spanish control from February 1 to July 31, and then French territory from August 1 to January 31. This was an agreement made on November 7, 1659 by the signing of The Treaty of the Pyrenees. The treaty was signed on Pheasant Island and consequently ended the Franco-Spanish War and established a border between the two nations. To honour the occasion, there was even a royal wedding. In 1660, French King Louis XIV married the daughter of King Philip IV, Maria Theresa of Spain, on the spot of the declaration. Their marriage was a key provision of the Treaty of the Pyrenees, and aimed to solidify the peace and reconciliation between the two countries. In the middle of the island there is a monolith, which is a commemorative stone in the centre of the island. The monolith's inscription is in Spanish on one side and French on the other. Despite its name, there are no pheasants on the island, but there is other wildlife like migratory birds, wild animals, and green crested mallards. The island can sometimes be reached on foot from the Spanish side at low tide. The little-known French island near the UK - with 60 beaches, Mediterranean-style climate & turquoise waters 4 Despite this, visitors are not allowed on the island, apart from during a few days, but this is limited to military personnel. It does open occasionally on heritage open days although these are rare. European Heritage Days (or Heritage Open Days in the UK) are an annual event where lots of historic sites, some of which are inaccessible, open their doors to the public for free. For anyone wanting have a peak at Pheasant Island, make a note of the third weekend of September as that is when France hold their Heritage Open days, called Journées du Patrimoine. It's possible, but not guaranteed that Pheasant Island will be open to the public then. On February 1 and August 1, the French and Spanish authorities conduct a formal handover of the island. Both sides perform military dress parades around the monolith before peacefully switching governance. There are still lots of areas to explore outside of Pheasant Island. It's surrounded by the Basque Country in northern Spain and is known for its mountainous terrain and rugged coastlines It's also close to the Camino de Santiago, a network of ancient, spiritual pilgrimage routes in Spain. Here's another tiny European holiday island that used to be a spa resort and cars are banned. And the unusual European city that looks like it's made entirely out of Lego.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
One of Trump's Weirdest Obsessions Is Spiraling Out of Control
Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. In my 30 years of studying the literature and culture of Louis XIV, I never thought I would see an American president actually model himself on the Sun King, to the point that a recent essay in the New York Times declared the current Oval Office décor a 'gilded rococo hellscape.' Along with the anti-royalist sentiment that used to characterize U.S. politics, I always assumed that most Americans had no real stomach for the hubris and sheer garishness that defined the style and surroundings of France's most famous king. When I've taken students to Versailles, I've noticed that as much as they admire the size and ambitiousness of the château that Louis XIV declared the center of French government, they nonetheless agree with the caustic assessment of the Duke de Saint-Simon, Louis XIV's greatest critic: It's 'a masterpiece of bad taste.' In fact, the White House is the third residence that Trump has tried to make resemble Versailles. Interior designer Angelo Donghia incorporated some gold elements into his initial vision for the penthouse apartment at Trump Tower, and Henry Conversano added much more in a later redesign, with the result being something New York Times architectural critic Paul Goldberger described in a 2017 talk as a 'pseudo-Versailles in the sky.' But it's less well known that the ghosts of Versailles also haunt Mar-a-Lago, where, when adding a ballroom, Trump ditched the Spanish theme of the original building and chose instead to mimic the Sun King's Hall of Mirrors. A 2007 appraisal of Mar-a-Lago made for the Trump Organization by the firm Callaway and Price described the ballroom as 'in the style of Versailles, in a Louis XIV gold and crystal finish, with huge crystal chandeliers and floor-to-ceiling mirrors on one wall.' Apparently it's this ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, with its $7 million of gold leaf, that Trump wants now to re-create in the East Wing; the gold cherubs have already been brought up from Florida. No doubt, if it's ever completed, this third Versailles revamp will have a ceiling painting to rival the original by Charles Le Brun depicting Louis XIV's military victories. (Perhaps, instead, 'Donald Trump vanquishes DEI'?) More disturbing, of course, than the president's taste is the administration's view of executive authority. This evokes the absolutist rhetoric of Louis XIV's worst sycophants, which Saint-Simon despised. One can almost hear the echoes of the Versailles courtiers in the Trump Cabinet's paeans to the president's leadership, and Saint-Simon's description of the Sun King's appetite for adulation, found in the writer's secret Mémoires, published after his death, surely suggests our own leader's vulnerability to such praise: 'The self-effacement, the self-abasement, the look of admiration, subjugation, supplication, most of all the look of negation except through him, were the sole means of pleasing him.' (That translation is my own.) Saint-Simon knew that when kings embrace their own flattery, they open themselves to manipulation, and the writer viewed Louis XIV as an illusory absolutist who was in fact controlled by fawning scoundrels. Sort of like if an American president were to be hoodwinked by a Russian dictator offering him a complimentary portrait. The irony is that Donald Trump is not governing like Louis XIV, and we would probably be better off if he did. The Sun King massively invested in science, technology, the arts, and intellectual activity; Trump disdains them all. Louis XIV created the Royal Academy for Sciences, the Royal Academy for Painting and Sculpture, the Royal Academy for Dance; Trump cuts the National Institutes of Health, bullies the Kennedy Center, threatens Big Bird. Louis XIV built roads, paved streets, carved canals, constructed ports; Trump freezes infrastructure spending and may decimate the National Park Service. You don't get Versailles by firing state workers. No, in terms of incompetence, ideology-driven decisionmaking, and a deliberate lack of imagination, the president resembles less Louis XIV and more his great-great-grandson—a man who became king by accident, married a woman from central Europe, and was unable to assume the grandeur of his Versailles forebear. He ruled as Louis XVI, and perhaps his finest decision was supporting the rebellious American colonists against France's oldest enemy, the British. Because of this mediocre king, who clung so desperately to the fantasies of absolutism that he was later overthrown and guillotined by his own people, the American experiment with republican government was able to commence. It's an irony of history that Trump's love affair with Louis XIV may mean that this experiment will ultimately be continued somewhere else—in some land we probably now consider backward and uncivilized, and where a gilded hall of mirrors has less attraction than a system of laws and values against authoritarianism.
Business Mayor
24-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
The Guardian view on billionaire Britain: tax wealth fairly or face democratic unravelling
B ritain for the last decade has experienced a bleak paradox: rising child poverty alongside a dramatic increase in billionaire wealth. This inequality has been tolerated partly because greed has been rehabilitated as virtue. The Billionaire Britain report, published this week by the Equality Trust, reveals what many instinctively feel but few in parliament will admit: the UK economy has become a machine for the upward redistribution of wealth. Using Sunday Times Rich List data, the report found that the 50 wealthiest UK families now own more than the poorest half of the population combined. Their opulence is no accident. It's largely built on the labour and consumption of those 34 million other Britons. The gains of society are being hoarded by those least in need. There's a lexicon that sells it all as 'entrepreneurial spirit' and business dynamism. But the very markets that reward the wealthiest so handsomely are constructed and policed by the state. Governments entrench intellectual property rights, strengthen legal monopolies and write policies that benefit banks and asset markets. Austerity was imposed on the many, even as a decade of quantitative easing created fiscal space that could have been used for public good. Instead it enriched the already wealthy by inflating property and share prices while tax cuts benefited the rich. A small correction to pandemic-driven gains for the billionaire class signifies no major shift. Their fortunes are 10 times larger today than they were in 1990. Louis XIV's finance minister said good tax policy plucks the most feathers with the least hissing. It was suggested that the government's small-scale tax rises had triggered a full-blown squawk. More than 10,000 millionaires, it was reported, had fled the UK in 2024. The source? Not actual migration data, but a firm selling second passports to the nervous rich. It is hard to not think such a company feeds on tax panic. Its numbers appear more astute marketing than solid evidence. Labour should be immune to such public relations stunts. Billionaires do not emerge in a vacuum. They are the product of deliberate choices. Property speculation, inheritance laws and tax avoidance schemes are not spontaneous market outcomes. They are often lobbied for by people with access to government, on behalf of those who stand to profit. It's no accident, then, that over a quarter of UK billionaires built their wealth through property and inheritance, and another quarter through finance – sectors that rely on rent extraction more than innovation. The rich get richer because political leaders protect that growth – often in service of their own ambitions. A Britain governed in the public interest must not defer to a plutocratic class. There needs to be a break with the current model. Politicians could, as a start, take up Tax Justice UK's idea for a 2% wealth tax on assets over £10m. Campaigners say this would raise £24bn annually – enough to begin repairing broken Britain. Oxfam says 78% of the public would support such a progressive levy. Yet such proposals are still framed as radical. What's radical is that monopoly profits end up in private hands while the state can't fund public services. It is inescapably true that the rules have been written to benefit a tiny elite. They can be rewritten. If not, then the cost to society risks being paid in populist anger, democratic decay and a long-term loss of trust.
