The Rías Baixas that you are missing
Does O Barbanza ring a bell? Maybe not. It is true that outside Galicia the name of this region is not as popular as that of other areas that many people have installed in their imagination: Baiona, Sanxenxo, O Grove, Cambados, A Lanzada, Sada… It's time for us to fix it.
Because O Barbanza has all the character of the Rías Baixas , but at the same time it begins to be loaded with that atmosphere that smells of north ; It is that mountainous tongue that goes into the Atlantic and that in the thousand nooks and crannies of its shore hides authentic gastronomic treasures , landscapes that will be engraved in your memory forever and historic quarters that transport you to another time.
Dornas in Corrubedo
The region maintains its capacity for surprise intact. Mountain just over a couple of kilometers from the sea , incredible archaeological sites, own recipe book with specialties What will it cost you in other areas? And all a little more than 45 minutes from the Santiago de Compostela airport.
Do you want proof? Well here we go. and we're going to Rianxo, the south gate of O Barbanza , a small town with a seafaring essence that is also one of the literary capitals of Galicia. from here they were Castelao, Rafael Dieste and Manoel Antonio , three key names of the Galician literature of the 20th century.
But Rianxo is much more. It is the engravings of the bronze age that are spread over its mountains, the ruins of Castelo da Lua , the castle of the moon, full of legends. It is the trawler regattas, the secluded beaches of As Cunchas or O Tronco. It is one of the capitals of the sardine ; and is the cockles pie . Corn dough and, as tradition dictates, with whole cockles, with shell.
How will that be? Well, how do you hear it? It sounds counterintuitive, but think about it for a moment: you stick the cockles in the dough, with the opening facing up, and you cover them with a second layer . Baked. Y if it is firewood, better.
Rianxo
Opening up with the heat, all that Marine Power Loaded Juice it is poured into the dough, flavoring it from within, preventing it from drying out. The result is a bit cumbersome to eat it is true, but that intensity will make you forget the discomfort quickly.
come closer to the Pireta bakery, in the heart of the old town , which is pure seafaring essence, and orders one. They carry more than 80 years preparing them so they know what they're doing. Few places better than this to get into flour and plunge into the barbanzán cookbook.
Boiro and the colored houses overlooking the sea in Cross Cape. mussels. In empanada, with noodles, steamed, with rice... To Pobra do Caramiñal. Caldeirada de skate in A for Pink before going to stroll through the old town, pass by the neighborhood of the 19th century canners , overlooking the beach, or by the Renaissance Tower of Bermúdez. Valle Inclán decided to move to live here. It would be for something.
From the center we can go up to the mountains. A the viewpoints of A Curota and A Curotiña , from which you can guess Portugal, to the south, and the Costa da Morte to the north. A good part of the Galician Atlantic coast at your fingertips at a glance and if we continue into the sierra, there is a whole succession of viewpoints, streams and forests that not too many people know about.
Viewpoint of A Curotiña, Pobra do Caramiñal
Or we can choose natural pools of the Pedras River. There was a medieval monastery here and old people say that San Juan went up, upstream , in a stone boat which, if you look carefully, can still be seen washed up on the shore.
Today there are only a few walls left in the undergrowth, but next to them, after cross the medieval bridge, the river is dammed in pools of a transparency difficult to describe in words. We have to see it. a bath here It completely changes your ideas about the coast, overcrowding and tourist areas.
And when you go down you can stop at the small winery Entre Os Ríos , where the Crusader family recovers native varieties such as the raposo grape. Or do what those who know the area do and end the afternoon with one of the mythical octopus sandwiches from the New Bar. mine please with grilled onion and San Simón cheese , with that special smoked point.
Do you want something more formal? No problem. Come back to O'Areal neighborhood, that we were talking about before. in one of those Centennial mansions with a bourgeois air and decadent is the nojira restaurant , a very charming space. Ask for a table in the garden and enjoy dishes such as mussels with ginger and citronella or the salted tuna with chive oil.
O Castro beach in Aguiño
Palmeira, with the church perched at the top of the seaside neighborhood that spills down the hillside to the port, with the transparent (and usually icy) waters of the beach of A Corna and the island of Rúa , with that centennial lighthouse , just opposite. And with the restaurant A Barbecho. Those pickled razor clams waves clam and spider crab dumplings they can't let go.
Aguiño and those infinite horizons, the O Vilar beach. Corrubedo, the town that fell in love with architect David Chipperfield. Corrubedo is, sheltered from the storms, between the Corrubedo Dunes Natural Park and the lighthouse. Be sure to visit the Bar do Porto, which Chipperfield recovered after three decades closed , to have a drink sitting next to the Benboa windows or rummage through that impossible network of alleys, the O'Secret Tavern.
From here slowly north. Along the wild shore the wildest of the Rías Baixas . If you want lonely beaches, this is your area: Balieiros, Seráns, Basoñas, Sieira River… Watch out for the waves and the currents , that this is the Atlantic, with nothing in between, and scares are not uncommon who takes more confidence than recommended on the first date.
Find a place in terrace of the Boca do Rio Beach Bar , or if the wind picks up, next to the window of the As Furnas restaurant (you've seen it in the series Fariña) ask for one very fresh beer and get ready for one of those sunsets that you will be tattooed.
Porto do Son
And from here, at the edge of the cobalt blue waters of the A Arnela beach, to Porto do Son , another of those towns that have maintained their seafaring character. A beer in the Plaza de España and then a session Seafood tapas at Bar Chinto , at the entrance of the port.
The octopus is the jewel of the menu , and one of the best you will find in this part of Galicia, but if they have sardines or chinchos (jurelitos) don't stop trying them. And if you still have a moment, order an empanada or a sweet thread on the Pineiro Bakery -you'll thank me- and go up to the A Atalaia viewpoint.
We continue. The beach of Aguieira, the small nautical center of Portosín , lesser-known coves such as that of O Pozo or that of Punta Cabalo . and we come to noya , which was one day port of Santiago de Compostela . He wanders aimlessly, finds a gothic church here, a medieval mansion there. Perhaps a cake at Confitería Dominga, to kill time. A museum of medieval tombstones in a 14th century church? Here you have it and, believe me, it's worth it.
And although the region ends here, we still have bullets in the chamber. If you want to return to the starting point, take the road that returns to Boiro. In it you can turn aside to go up to the Mount Iroite and, from it, make a hiking trail through Os Chaos do Barbanza, the plains, walking between dolmens and prehistoric tombs, almost 700 meters altitude , with an estuary appearing on each side.
And when going down, stop at the waterfall of cadarnoxo and refresh yourself with the crystal clear water of this mountain stream that falls more than 40 meters to peak . Yes, here, a stone's throw from the sea. Because in Or Barbanza these things happen.
Or maybe you prefer to continue north. Because there, a step away, is the port of O Freixo , with restaurant like Rios , with a very high quality of marine product, or the Pepe do Coxo tavern, famous for its oysters . And beyond Bornalle with its hórreos, Muros, Monte Louro and the beach of Area Maior, which is the gateway to the Costa da Morte. Although that is another story and, as Michael Ende said, it should be told on another occasion.