About Galicia

The first time I drove into Galicia I got hooked. Galicia is Spain’s northwestern corner. A green region that feels worlds apart from the typical Spanish landscape. It’s the area where the famous Camino de Santiago leads to and also a popular area for Spanish people for the capital Madrid to celebrate their beach holidays. Galicia is also the region of the marisco (seafood) and licor café (coffee liqueur). An area with its own language and culture. It’s the greenest region of Spain, a result of it also being the region which most rain of the country.

Where is Galicia located in Spain? 

The first time I drove into Galicia, I literally pulled over to take photos. After hours crossing the dusty meseta the environment changed and the ‘Macizo Galaico’ appeared, the Galician Massif. On the way up mist rolls in. It’s been some time since I’ve seen any clouds. At the top, the scenery changes dramatically. Suddenly I was surrounded by the lush green mountains of O Cebreiro. The temperature dropped 10 degrees and everywhere around the nature is green. Some minutes ago I was in the desert, now a healthy green oasis is beneath my feet. Welcome to Galicia!

Galicia is the most northwestern region of Spain. On the regions east side it’s separated from the rest of Spain by mountains, in the south of it lays Portugal. In the north and west Galicia is totally surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. The coastline of Galicia measures an amount of 1200 kilometers. That’s 30% of the total Spanish coastline!

Galicia is a beautiful, green area in the northwest of Spain. It’s no coincidence that the region is very green, because it does rain in Galicia. It’s part of the climate of Galicia. Water ascends from the Atlantic Ocean, that surrounds Galicia in the north and the west, en some further in the region this water comes down again as rain. The clouds often don’t pass the mountains that surround Galicia in the east, what results in the dramatic transition from Galicia to the inlands of Spain.
However, if you would ask a local Galego about the rainfall, they would probably answer you that the rainy image is somewhat exaggerated. In my visits to Galicia I experienced many beautiful sunny days.

Geography and figures

Galicia has about 3 million inhabitants. Galicia is an autonomous region in Spain and consists of four provinces: A Coruña, Lugo, Pontevdra and Ourense. The capital of Galicia is Santiago de Compostela, located in the province of A Coruña.

Some figues:

• Area: 29.574 km²
• Inhabitants (2025): 2.714.741 (92 inh./km²)
• Capital: Santiago de Compostela
• National anthem: Os Pinos
• Languages: Spanish, Galego

Province	Inhabitants	Capital	Inhabitants
A Coruña	1 135 653	A Coruña	251 277
Lugo	326 022	Lugo	100 071
Ourense	305 278	Ourense	105 609
Pontevedra	947 818	Pontevedra	83 339
		biggest city: Vigo	295 735
Total	2.714.741

Quick facts about Galicia

What language do they speak in Galicia?

Galicia is officially bilingual. Most people speak both Spanish (Castilian) and Galego (Galician), which is linguistically closer to Portuguese than Spanish. Learn more about Galego, the language of Galicia.

Where exactly is Galicia?

Galicia is Spain’s northwestern corner, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Portugal to the south, and the regions of Asturias and Castilla y León to the east. Galicia has the biggest coastline of all the Spanish provinces.

How is Galicia different from the rest of Spain?

Galicia has a distinctly Atlantic climate (green, rainy, cool), Celtic heritage, its own language and culture, and a landscape dramatically different from Spain’s typical Mediterranean or desert regions.

When is the best time to visit?

For most people this will be between june and september. The most dry and warm period. Nevertheless, it all depends your preferences and activities planned. Read the full guide about when is the best time to visit Galicia.

What is Galicia famous for?

Without a doubt, the Camino the Santiago and Santiago de Compostela.
But there is so much more. If you would ask a Spaniard, you will probably get an answer including seafood, beaches and rainfall.

Why I started this website

My name is Rob and many years ago I had the privilege of getting to know Galicia. It was an unknown area to me at that time and I got to love it. Later I discovered that Galicia wasn’t just unknown to me, but that the area in general could use some more knowledge. Therefore, I decided to create this website.

This whole site is dedicated to Galicia and I try to update it every now and then with new information. Do you have any suggestions or information to share or that you want to know more about? Let me know!

Read my full story here