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I share in La Vanguardia Readers’ Photos this photograph of the Fata Morgana effect in which it seems that the cargo ship is flying over the sea. The image has been captured from Gavà Mar, on the Baix Llobregat coast.
The Fata Morgana effect is named after the Italian fata Morgana (i.e. fairy Morgana), in reference to King Arthur’s half-sister (Morgan le Fay) who, according to legend, was a changeling fairy.
It is a mirage or optical illusion that is due to a temperature inversion. Objects on the horizon, such as islands, cliffs, ships or ice floes, take on a long, elevated appearance, similar to “fairy-tale castles.” Or, as in this case of the boat, they appear to “fly.”
The most famous Fata Morgana is the one produced on the southern coast of Sicily, in the Strait of Messina, between Calabria and Sicily.
Now, references to the so-called floating cities off the coast of Barcelona are increasing as a result of two factors: the favorable meteorological conditions to generate the Fata Morgana effect and, secondly, the significant traffic of large ships, whether cruise ships. or merchant ships, which are in the Port of Barcelona.
