Galicia is GALIFORNIA
PARASOL AND CREAM
Freak-show a la Venice Beach
Just as Patti Smith sang to Redondo Beach and Courtney Love to Malibu, Los Siniestro Total sang to Samil (and the Cíes). And no, it's not trivial.
The beaches of Galicia are something else: some wilder, almost stuck in the mountains (or rather, as if they had just come out of it), others more typical and topical, such as the one in Samil in Vigo. Life in the long Samil (almost two kilometers) revolves around the promenade, with its restaurants, basketball courts, terraces and even swimming pools.
But beyond the cement mass (which occupies some old natural dunes...), has a certain tacky charm , so many picnic areas overflowing with people, vacations from another era, refrigerators full of tupperware, that beach with a large family, a typical group of friends exercising shirtless in an improvised gym, partying in the sun or skating on the tracks on the other side of the walk. It is another world. Not very different from the American freak show (and I say freak show with all the 'agarimo') of beaches like Venice.
Samil beach in Vigo
Wild beaches like Big Sur
And then we have the coves, the wild beaches, those hidden between pine forests and carballeiras... Those are the beaches “more Big Sur Californian” like the cliffs of the Coast of Death. This legendary land of violent tides takes a break on beaches like or face (perhaps one of the best sunsets in the Community?) or Carnota's , seven kilometers where we find dunes, marshes and a sandy area with views of the Cape Fisterra.
There are even beaches that are works of art. It is the case of arealonga whose difficult access leads to a greater reward: the beach is located next to the Castro de Baroña , millennia of history mixed with torsos in the sun. This is Galicia. The beach of the Cathedrals is natural art . The rock formations invite (at low tide) to walk among caves, caverns and galleries created by the erosion of the rough sea.
The beauty continues to the south, towards the ** Rías Baixas **, with undeniable queens of beauty like Melide, within the natural space Cabo Home, or Barra Beach , secluded and intimate, perfect for completely nude sunbathing. But in addition to the sandbanks, the Galician coast is there to investigate, cove by cove.
Praia do Mar de Fora in Finisterre
Beyond C(g) alifornia: the Caribbean touch
The Cies Island and the Ons Islands , more than California they are a kind of Galician Caribbean . They deserve a full stop: they deserve a couple of days of exploration, walking, beach and baking in the sun.
Here are the most beautiful beaches (like Rhodes either Nosa Mrs. in Cies; Melide either pereiro in Ons) here the sun stings until it burns and the water freezes until it numbs the joints (what can you do, it couldn't be perfect).
We recommend being far-sighted in summer to reserve a place in both campsites. But beyond the beach, his thing is to explore the islands, observe the fauna and the views of the open Atlantic or the estuaries. Too.
Seagull prepared for the attack in the Cíes Islands
FAUNA
For those who are new to the art of Galician beaching, we warn of the existence of some damn sea creature. It is not about the white shark of the American coasts (although doubts, "habelas haylas"). In Galicia there are more than golfiños (dolphins, but there are also other 'golfiños') and pouts , small fish with poisonous spines on their heads that hide under the sand waiting for a bare foot to step on them. Listen a lot. Wear jellyfish if the Red Cross post is full of lame swimmers.
And watch out for the seagulls . Hyper-evolved specimens capable of stealing the typical beach snack with amazing ease have been seen. In fact, there are witnesses of how they do not disgust even the very aluminum foil. They are organized. They have specialized. And you have to fear them.
Yes, yes, it's very cold here and it rains all the time...
FROM THE 'BEACH CLUB' TO THE CHIRINGUITO
There is a legend in Galicia, that of the 'lobishome' , the werewolf who transforms at night and roams the towns looking for victims. Not far from reality, the nights of Galicia transform anyone. The culture of enjoyment in the light of the moon is something else.
In summer, the beach parties stand out, the beach bars with views of the estuaries, the towns that transform in summer just like those werewolves. It is the case of Bayonne, **Portonovo or Sanxenxo ** Known for the nightclubs that close their doors at dawn.
We cannot forget about beach myths like beach club in the very Riazor, in La Coruña, or great places to have a cocktail with the Atlantic breeze as the protagonist such as Sailing or the Pénjamo (Vigo and Nigrán, respectively).
Sunset in La Vela, Vigo
ROAD TRIP
Along the coast, from Los Angeles to San Francisco:
Take the route of Rias Altas (from Ribadeo to La Coruña, for example, with obligatory stops in Viveiro and Ortigueira), or the Baixas (Muros, Rianxo, Vilagarcía, Cambados, Sanxenxo, Marín, Bueu, Cangas, Moaña, Vigo, Nigrán, Baiona...), beach to beach (and curve to curve).
The interior, from Los Angeles to Las Vegas:
The difference is clear: in Galicia this thing about the great moors and deserts is not customary. The palm tree is not in style either: the pine, the carballo (even, unfortunately, the omnipresent eucalyptus), the great fragas...
The American motel is not styled, the town hostel, the stone house, the scattered populations are styled. We could propose thousands (for another topic), but we recommend a trek to the waterfall of the Toxá River (Bandeira-Silleda) , one of the most beautiful places in Galicia, a walk through the Rex Forest (marked by the works of Agustín Ibarrola) or the tour of the mills of the Barosa River Natural Park, between Pontevedra and Caldas de Reis.
Ferrolana happy
THE ORANGE COUNTY OF RÍAS BAIXAS
For having, Galifornia even has its own 'Orange County': the island of Toralla in Vigo It is a rocky and private promontory, where the great capes with a swimming pool and views of the infinity of the estuary (with the Cíes in front) are the protagonists.
Access is only for neighbors, but you can enjoy two small sandbanks protected by walls (rather what they protect are the houses) much less crowded than the beach on the other side of the bridge, the Vao.
Toralla Island
THE PRISON-ISLAND
Alcatraz-San Simon . If San Francisco boasts of a morbid destination with the island – Alcatraz prison, the Galicians too.
An old prison, which was also an orphanage and ended up being a leper colony, occupied the island of San Simón: today, a very tasty and tasteful festival is celebrated there (SinSal San Simón) with a secret poster until the moment the artists rip Guitar.
The history of San Simón is as full of anecdotes as the whole of Galicia , with his Templars, with his Battle of Rande, his English invasion with Captain Drake giving the war cry, his use as a concentration camp during the Civil War... If they have dedicated a series to Alcatraz, with San Simón they can make an entire saga.
View of San Simón Island from Cesantes
SURF
A few years ago there were no surf schools in Galicia. But yes surfers who climbed on the boards on the beaches of Ducks, Melide, Malpica, Doniños or Frouxeira.
Today the beaches are filled with wetsuits, fins, bodyboards, kite surfboards and boards. It is not uncommon to meet surfers who do the Portuguese-Galician route up on a board and the surf schools begin to make a dent in the little ones. This is the case of the school at the ** Prado beach in Nigrán ** (where the professional surfer Gony Zubizarreta began to ride the waves), the one at the neighboring Patos or the Pantín Surf House.
A GALICIAN GOLDEN GATE?
We admit that this statement may be caused by a Molotov cocktail of sensations: that melancholy that invades anyone who visits the Galician Community and has to return, when leaving the Galician landscapes by train or car and seeing how the estuaries and mountains escapedos vanish giving way to the Spanish plateau... Come on, the 'saudade' of a lifetime.
Is the Rande Bridge the Golden Gate of the Northwest? This 'cable-stayed' bridge joins Redondela with Moaña and its appearance amidst the 'brétema' (sea mist) may be something like a San Franciscan image of the Golden Gate Bridge. Mirage or reality? California.
The Rande cable-stayed bridge
INSTAGRAM PHENOMENON
That Galicia is Galifonia and California has something of Galicia , not only we say it: Instagram shouts it . Waking up one day in the capital stepping on cement and seeing these photographs of that misnamed rainy northwest of ours, is a thump-in-the-whole-mouth. The same wham! What motivated the article? Keep an eye on it and head to Galifornia (hopefully the weather will be good) .
*Report originally published on June 11, 2013 and updated on August 6, 2018
#Galifornia on Instagram (Duck Beach)