Galicia

Galicia is a region of unimaginable beauty, full of choice and totally natural

Galicia has many historic towns, many cities with turbulent past but on the other hand it also has many modern cities. In Galicia, many fishing villages are a real source of romance in the summer when the temperature does not exceed 20 degrees.

The climate is fairly mild and the people of Galicia are friendly, open-minded, kind and very brave.

Galicia has a fairy-tale landscape

Galicia is a country that lies on “the thousand rivers”, at least it is said so. The fact is that a large number of rivers pass through this area and therefore Galicia is popularly called the “Rias” (rivers). Galicia is made of everything – the rivers, their gorges, dreamy valleys, green meadows, high mountains, beaches with white sand and  coasts  full of passionate rocks and steep cliffs (in Galicia there is a coast called the Costa de la Muerte)

The first association with Galicia is for sure Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela is a Jewish city; about 100,000 tourists visit it every year- this is the last station for pilgrimage to Santiago. The city is pretty much medieval, full of monuments and churches that contribute to the historic atmosphere of the city.

Santiago de Compostela is protected by UNESCO due its priceless heritage

The town was founded in the 9th century. The last destination of Pilgrimage is the Cathedral called Santiago Cathedral. Santiago or St. James was an apostle, and he is one of the most important saints in Christianity. Therefore, the pilgrimage to Santiago is the second largest in the world, right after the pilgrimage to Mecca.

The origin of Galicia has made a distinction between this region and the rest of Spain

Galicia is marked by Celts, their tradition and their culture. This region is more Celtic than Latin or Hispanic. Galicia is a historic region and one of the first kingdoms in Europe – Kingdom of Galicia.

The origin of the name is probably Gallaecia- it was the name of the Celtic tribe that lived in the vicinity of the Douro River. Even the historical Galician language has survived and it is like the Portuguese language. All in all, Galicia is not a typical representative of Spain because the region is deeply marked by Celtic culture.

Nowadays, Galicia is an autonomous community in Spain with 2.5 million people. It consists of 4 provinces: Lugo, A Coruña, Ourense and Pontevedra.

The economy differs from province to province but it is mainly based on fishing and agriculture.