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Today, at dawn, on the beach of Gavà, in the Baix Llobregat, it was possible to see again the effect of the magic of the Fata Morgana. Spectacular “floating metropolis” in the sea.
As can be seen in this snapshot in La Vanguardia’s Readers’ Photos, the wonderful mirage and optical illusion of seeing the containers of the merchant ship converted into buildings has occurred, a phenomenon well reflected in this image.
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 an elongated and elevated appearance, similar to “fairy-tale castles”. Or, as in this case, buildings.
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.
First, the favorable weather conditions to generate the Fata Morgana effect and, secondly, the significant traffic of large ships, whether cruise ships or merchant ships, that exist in the Port of Barcelona.