Galicia is an autonomous community of Spain. The capital is Santiago de Compostela.

Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra with the capitals of the same name.

Geography

Galicia is located in the Atlantic Europe. It’s main river is Minho (Sp. Miño). It is bordered by Portugal to the south, the Spanish autonomous communities of Castile and León and Asturias to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Cantabrian Sea to the north.

Galicia has a surface area of 29,574 square kilometres. Its northernmost point, at 43°47′N, is Estaca de Bares (also the northernmost point of inland Spain); its southernmost, at 41°49′N, is on the Portuguese border in the Baixa Limia-Serra do Xurés Natural Park. The easternmost longitude is at 6°42′W on the border between the province of Ourense and the Castilian-Leonese province of Zamora) its westernmost at 9°18′W Cape Touriñán (also the westernmost point of inland Spain).

Main attractions. TOP 3

Santiago de Compostela or Santiago is a city and municipality, capital of the autonomous community of Galicia. The Galician regional government and the Parliament of Galicia have their headquarters there. The ancient city of Santiago has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. It stands out for being one of the three great pilgrimage centers of Christianity, along with Jerusalem and Rome, by pointing out the tradition that the Saint James the Greater was buried there.

A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country. The city is the provincial capital of the province of the same name, having also served as political capital of the Kingdom of Galicia from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

Fisterra is a city and a municipality in the province of A Coruña. Fisterra stands on Cape Finisterre, the final destination for many pilgrims on the Way of St. James. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world.

There are 3 towns in the community included in the “Most beautiful villages of Spain” association. See below.

Full travel guide (by provinces)

A Coruña province

Lugo province

Ourense province

Pontevedra province

Sea resorts

Galicia is a popular part of the Atlantic resorts of Spain. It has over 1,660 km of coastline, including its offshore islands and islets, among them Cíes Islands, Ons, Sálvora, Cortegada Island, which together form the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park, and the largest and most populated, A Illa de Arousa.

From north to south:

Camino de Santiago

The Camino de Santiago, known in English as the Way of St. James, is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried.

Economy

A major economic sector of Galicia is its fishing Industry; the main ports are A Coruña, Marín-Pontevedra, Vigo and Ferrol. Related to this fact, the European Fisheries Control Agency, which coordinates fishing controls in European Union waters, is based in Vigo.

Transport and how to get to?

Galicia’s main airport is Santiago de Compostela Airport (Santiago–Rosalía de Castro Airport, SCQ). It connects the Galician capital with cities in Spain as well as several major European cities. There are two other domestic airports in Galicia: A Coruña Airport – Alvedro and Vigo-Peinador Airport.

The most important Galician fishing port is the Port of Vigo; It is one of the European’s leading fishing ports, with an annual catch worth 1,500 million euros.

Galicia today has roughly 1,100 km of rail lines. Several 1,668 mm Iberian gauge lines operated by Adif and Renfe Operadora connect all the important Galician cities. A 1,000 mm metre gauge line operated by FEVE connects Ferrol to Ribadeo and Oviedo. An electrified line is the Ponferrada-Monforte de Lemos-Ourense-Vigo line.

Several high-speed rail lines are under construction. Among these are the Olmedo-Zamora-Galicia high-speed rail line that opened partly in 2011, and the AVE Atlantic Axis route, which will connect all of the major Galician Atlantic coast cities A Coruña, Santiago de Compostela, Pontevedra and Vigo to Portugal. Another projected AVE line will connect Ourense to Pontevedra and Vigo.

Distances by car from Santiago de Compostela to the main cities of Spain:

  • From Madrid 5 hr 45 min (601 km) via A-6 and A-52
  • From Oviedo 3 hr 19 min (326 km) via A-8
  • From Santander 4 hr 52 min (492 km) via A-8
  • From Vitoria-Gasteiz 6 hr 4 min (599 km) via A-231 and A-6

  • From Pamplona 6 hr 56 min (695 km) via A-231
  • From Zaragoza 7 hr 41 min (783 km) via AP-68
  • From Barcelona 10 hr 33 min (1,087 km) via AP-2
  • From Valladolid 4 hr 23 min (449 km) via A-52
  • From Toledo 6 hr 18 min (668 km) via A-6 and A-52
  • From Valencia 9 hr 10 min (959 km) via A-3
  • From Mérida 6 hr 37 min (697 km) via A-66 and A-52
  • From Murcia 9 hr 10 min (1,005 km) via A-52
  • From Seville 8 hr 26 min (890 km) via A-66
  • From Logroño 6 hr 24 min (616 km) via A-6 and A-231

Languages

Two languages are official and widely used today in Galicia: the native Galician, a Romance language closely related to Portuguese with which it shares the Galician-Portuguese medieval literature; and Spanish, usually called Castilian. While most Galicians are bilingual, a 2019 survey reported that 52% of the Galician population spoke Galician most often on a day-to-day basis, while 48% most often used Spanish.

Main information

Area: 29 575 sq. km

Coordinates: 42°45′18″N 7°51′58″W

Population: 2 701 819

Languages: Spanish, Galician

Currency: Euro

Visa: Schengen

Time: Central European UTC +1

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