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Published: July 19th 2022
After spending the last few weeks in the mountains, it is time to head to the beach. We had initially thought of finding a place somewhere in the north of Portugal, but nowhere stood out so we opted for somewhere in northwest Spain instead. The holiday season has begun so availability is limited and cheap places in the popular beach resorts which generally are in the area close to San Sebastian are hard to find. So we opt for the road less travelled and take a chance on a small place right on the NW tip of Spain – a small town called O Barqueiro.
Here we are in Galicia an autonomous region of Spain that has its own language. As the capital of the region is Santiago de Compostela it has a strong Christian history. At first glance O Barqueiro looks nothing special, but by 7pm when the bars and restaurants open up the harbour area comes alive. There are 2 pubs and 3 reasonable restaurants all serving good local seafood. Our hotel, though not fancy is comfortable enough with an owner keen to load us up with local tourist maps.
First day here we walk to one
of the local beaches across the old bridge built across the river in 1901. The town name I believe means “ferryman” as this was an important ferry until the bridge was built. We look out over the river estuary and a large sandbar that is exposed at low tide. The tidal fall here is several metres so much of the beach and the sand bar are all covered at high tide. The beach is fantastic, though later we find not perhaps the best in the area but that is because there are just so many fine ones around here.
Next day we try a bit of local sightseeing, starting with Port Bares and Cape Bares, the most northerly point of the Spanish mainland, which has a fairly ordinary looking lighthouse. A couple of km further south we find the “best bench in the world” as the tourist marketing calls it, which is a seat overlooking a great view over coves and sandy beaches – very similar to some of the coastal parks back in Victoria (Aus). Next stop is Espasante, a larger fishing village with another couple of good sandy bays and a fair amount of tourist infrastructure. On
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Latitude marker at Cape Baresthe hill just outside town is a single room stone building that was built as a lookout to protect against the raids by the English “pirates” (Sir Francis Drake no less) that happened in the years just after the Spanish Amada.
It wouldn’t be a Risby-Sheard trip without some car adventure and today the BMW tells me it needs new brake pads. That story if for my next blog entry.
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