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Background

Knowing the Area

Galicia is a large autonomous region of Spain, one and a half times the size of Wales and just under half the size of Scotland. It is sparsely populated with 2.7 million inhabitants and climatically has more in common with Manchester than the Spanish costas familiar to most British Holidaymakers. Situated on the Atlantic coast, just above Portugal, it is served by international airports in A Coruna, Vigo, and Santiago de Compostela.

Galicia is the green Spain that is little talked about and infrequently visited by non-Spanish. It’s Spain’s little secret and they’d like to keep it that way. Delicious food and wine, sensational countryside, a diverse and friendly population, and and escape from the stifling summer heat make it a favourite setting for the Spanish to holiday.

The ‘Camino de Santiago’ is probably the single biggest draw of foreign tourists with between 300,000 and 400,000 making their way to Santiago de Compostela every year in a religious or secular pilgrimage.

There are various routes and to get to know the area a little better we’ve walked the last 115km on three routes through the most beautiful countryside in Spain. In 2017 and 2018 we walked from Sarria on the Camino Frances, in 2019 we started in Valenca in Portugal on the Camino Portuguese and in a brief break in coronavirus lockdown in 2020 we walked the Camino Ingles from Ferrol.

All were very rewarding, gave us a great understanding of the geography of the area, and allowed us to meet plenty of interesting locals and visitors.