The Green Spain: Galicia

International tourism business in Spain started flourishing in the sixties and seventies decade of the 20th century, mainly featuring beach and sunny locations and (at the time) very cheap prices in an economy that fell way behind the rest of the western world. Thus most topics and known images of the country outside of our borders spring from or are related to the areas that offer these particular experiences: the eastern rim with the Catalonian Costa Brava or Valencia (Paella, if eaten everywhere in Spain, is a Valencian traditional dish) to quote just two, and Andalucía in the south coast, with the Costa del Sol of Málaga province as most popular attraction. Most of these areas are, if enjoyably sunny, also dry and arid looking in general to the visiting and local eye. And I get the feeling that such is the impression most tourists, would be and returning alike, have from Spain. They are mistaken. For Spain is also humid, green and deeply forested , as you will confirm if you go and stride for a while along the north coast and westernmost areas. Even Andalucía turns greenish as you cross to its western counties, encountering the Coto de Doñana, second biggest marshes region in the whole of Europe, or the mountain range of Grazalema, which is the rainiest spot of the country. As for the north it is all a green lively scenery that turns even more lush as you go from east to west until you reach Galicia in the northwest corner of the peninsula: the wild celtic lung of our barbarian heritage.
Galicia is the perfect communion of land and sea, with a fisherman’s soul but inextricably attached to its hills, low mountains and forests. It has a body of stone into which the Atlantic Ocean and the Cantabric Sea have carved firths and lagoons: the rías. This word’s origin is very illustrative; you see, ría is the female of the word for river (río) representing the sea penetrating and inseminating the land, in opposition to inland waters releasing into the big blue. You will find the Rías Bajas (Low Inlets) in the south west of the region, close to the Portuguese border, and the Rías Altas (High Inlets) in the north rim of Galicia.

The five Rías Bajas (South to North they comprise the inlets of Vigo, Pontevedra, Arousa, Muros I Noia and Corcubión, all named after the main villages located at their innermost points) present a curious microclimate, pretty mild compared to the rest of Galicia, with as many days of sun per year as the Costa Brava, and quite a few small but nice blue flagged beaches, including the beaches of the Cíes Islands (recently acclaimed by Conde Nast Magazine, if memory serves, as being among the 10 most beautiful in the planet) in front of the entrance to Vigo Inlet, and the beach of La Lanzada, a bit north from there, in the outer side of the Ría de Arousa, very close to the village of El Grove, both still wild. Western orientation provides for the most spectacular sunsets, too. The cultural patrimony of this area includes treasures of architecture and sculpture, mainly of Gothic and Romanesque style and dating, almost everywhere you go, and you should visit and see, to name but a few, the old quarter of the city of Pontevedra, monasteries like San Juan de Poio or San Ero de Armenteira, and captivating old towns like Cambados or Padrón, and the tiny fishermen village of Combarro, one of the most charming places you can find in Galicia and even Spain in general. The Isla de la Toja is also a balneary center of first order in the country, with few but magnificent spas.
A few miles into the coast, and halfway from Rias Bajas to the north end of Galicia you will find Santiago de Compostela, capital of the region and resting place of Spain’s patron saint, St James (Santiago in Spanish). There is a saying in Galicia that might give you a slight idea of the stone engraved beauty of this city: “In Santiago, rain is art”; for in the rainiest city of the country, every falling drop outlines an utterly fascinating compound of medieval dating constructions crowned by St James’ cathedral, standing in the Obradoiro square, one of the most beautiful settings of this kind you will find in the planet.

The north coast of Galicia starts in the west corner with a stretch of wild rocky cliffs and rocks beaten by the sea, known as Costa da Morte (Coast of Death-because of the hundreds of ship wreckages that have taken place in its dangerous waters) that after about 110 miles leads to A Coruña, first of the Rias Altas (west to east, A Coruña, Betanzos, Ares, Ferrol, Cedeira, Ortigueira, Barquero, Vivero, Foz ad Ribadeo). The city of A Coruña, founded, legend says, by Heracles himself after defeating a dragon, is the most modern and cosmopolite of Galicia, mixing modernity, romanticism and pragmatism. Gothic churches share the city with Baroque civil constructions, Modernist and Futurist buildings, medieval castles, French renaissance gardens and a 60 m roman lighthouse dating from the II century. All this surrounded by the promenade along the seafront, one of the longest and most beautiful in Europe, crossing two excellent beaches , the Museum of Man, the Castle of San Anton and the roman lighthouse (Torre de Hércules or Heracles’ Tower, symbol of the city). Although the climate is much rainier and misty and the waters of the Cantabric Sea (mixing the Atlantic with the British Channell’s that come from the North Sea) are pretty colder than the Mediterranean’s or the Atlantic’s you can find wonderful beaches along the Rias Altas, including the spectacular Playa de las Catedrales (beach of the Cathedrals) small in its strands but fascinating in the forms of the cliffs that can be seen and explored during the low tide. In this area you can also find the Cabo del Mundo (World’s cap), with the highest cliffs in western Europe (more than 600 m) except for the Nordic fjords. The cultural patrimony and the stone jewels also abound, featuring monasteries like San Andres de Teixido, second most important pilgrimage in the region after St James or villages like Betanzos.

There are too many charming places in Galicia and as usual the entry is stretching too long. Many of the locations I have quoted will hopefully star a more comprehensive article some of these days. I do not want to finish, though, without suggesting one more location, this time inland: the city of Lugo, in time capital of the roman province of Gallaecia. Patrimony of Humanity like Santiago, it keeps the best preserved roman walls compound of the world (and many other things, but just this is enough to justify the visit).

Final considerations: thanks to heavens above, tourism in Galicia is not a massive thing like it is in other parts of Spain. Urban “development” goes on, but luckily at a slower pace. Tourism is a big source of income in this area which is economically poor compared with others in Spain, but it has evolved through person to person recommendations with the locals realising potential business and setting up small family hotels, instead of huge industrial investments. You can also find big hotels, mainly in the big cities and around Rias Bajas, but that is not the rule. Let’s keep it that way.