Galicia, Spain

Galicia – One of the 17 Autonomous Communities of Spain

Galicia is one of the 17 Autonomous Communities of Spain which is located in the green and lush north western corner of Spain. The region of Galicia is an area of grass and granite which has a rugged coastline. It comprises of four provinces, namely LaCoruna, Pontevedra, Lugo and Ourense that have been named after their capital cities and is Europe’s western most regions. Towards the west and north it tends to face the sea, it faces the mountains shared with Asturias and Castile y Leon at the east and faces Portugal at the south.

Its coastline is the most remarkable in the peninsula with several fjords and various outstanding beaches. Geographically, Galicia is placed just above Portugal and faces the Atlantic Ocean and the Mar Cantabrico. This are of the country has an economy which is based on farming, fishing, agriculture and progressively tourism. Its climate tends to have four distinct seasons. Galicia is an autonomous community having a cultural heritage, climate and geography which is distinct from the rest of Spain. Though the history of the region as well as the scenery are regularly promoted as the areas foremost vacation attractions, beautiful beaches tend to fill the bays of three of the four provinces in Galicia combined with the scent of pine and eucalyptus.

Galicia Termed as Green Spain

In recent years, Galicia and especially the towns near to Santiago de Compostela together with its airport has become very popular with the British and American tourists. Galicia is often termed as green Spain due to its temperate climate as well as the elevated rainfall, when compared to the resorts of hotter South of Spain.

The landscape of Galicia is lush, mountainous with forests of pine and eucalyptus though like the rest of the Iberian regions, it tends to have a high level of autonomy and provincial self-determination. The biggest difference between Galicia and the more commonly visited southern Spanish resort to a tourist will be the landscape and the climate. More the 80% of the people in Galicia speak fluent Galician but almost most of them also speak Castellano, which according to them is known as Spanish and may also opt to use it most of the time.

Region of Contrast

Galician is known as Galegao in the local language and Gallego in Castellano. Galego is one of the five Iberian languages from where Latin changed itself. The other four are Spanish – Castellano, Catalan, Asturian and Portuguese. Besides this, there is Basque which bears no connection to any of these or to Latin. It is said that Portuguese seemed to develop from Galego, which was the original language that spread south before it had been standardised is Lisbon.

 Presently the people of Galicia and north Portugal seem to understand each other quite well. Galicia tends to offer some of the best hotels in Spain and is a pleasant place for vacations. It is a region of contrast and as one tends to explore it, they will find areas offering different backdrops. The coast of Galicia is known as the `Costa de la Muerte’ or `Coast of Death mainly due to the number of shipwrecks along the rocky coast, which has tiny fishing villages, untouched covers and fine shady beaches.