The culture of Galicia is the patterns of human activity and symbolism associated with the Galicia region of Spain and the Galician people.
What dear delight this summer day,
Its trees and flowers, to me doth bring,
And birds that songs of love here sing,
For joyfully without care
I go, ev'n as all lovers fare,
Who gay and merry are alway.
And when I pass by streams that wind
Beneath fair trees, through meadows fair,
It their love-song the birds say there,
Then all in love I sing straightaway,
And there of love compose my lay
And love-songs make in many a kind.
Great joy and mirth with me abide
When birds sing in sweet summertide.
Joan Airas (13th century),
translation by Aubrey F. G. Bell
As with many other Romance languages, Galician-Portuguese emerged as a literary language in the Middle Ages, during the 12th-13th century, when a rich lyric tradition developed. However, in the face of the hegemony of Castilian Spanish, during the so-called Séculos Escuros ("Dark Centuries"), from 1530 to 1800, it fell from major literary or legal use, revived again during the 19th century Rexurdimento with such writers as Rosalía de Castro, Manuel Murguía, Manuel Leiras Pulpeiro , and Eduardo Pondal. In the 20th century, before the Spanish Civil War the Irmandades da Fala ("Brotherhood of the Language") and Grupo Nós included such writers as Vicente Risco, Ramón Cabanillas and Castelao; the Seminario de Estudos Galegos promoted the study of the language. Public use of Galician was largely suppressed in Francoist Spain but has been resurgent since the restoration of democracy. Contemporary Writers in Galician include Xosé Luís Méndez Ferrín, Manuel Rivas, and Suso de Toro.
Galician cuisine often uses fish and shellfish. The empanada is a meat or fish pie, with a bread-like base, top and crust with the meat or fish filling usually being in a tomato sauce including onions and garlic. Caldo galego is a hearty soup whose main ingredients are potatoes and a local vegetable named grelo (Broccoli rabe). The latter is also employed in Lacón con grelos, a typical carnival dish, consisting of pork shoulder boiled with grelos, potatoes and chorizo. Centolla is the equivalent of King Crab. It is prepared by being boiled alive, having its main body opened like a shell, and then having its innards mixed vigorously. Another popular dish is octopus, boiled (traditionally in a copper pot) and served in a wooden plate, cut into small pieces and laced with olive oil, sea salt and pimentón (Spanish paprika). This dish is called Pulpo a la gallega or in Galician "Polbo á Feira", which roughly translates as "Galician-style Octopus". There are several regional varieties of cheese. The best-known one is the so-called tetilla , named after its breast-like shape. Other highly regarded varieties include the San Simón cheese from Vilalba and the creamy cheese produced in the Arzúa-Curtis area. The latter area produces also high-quality beef. A classical dessert is filloas, crêpe-like pancakes made with flour, broth or milk, and eggs. When cooked at a pig slaughter festival, they may also contain the animal's blood. A famous almond cake called Tarta de Santiago (St. James' cake) is a Galician sweet speciality mainly produced in Santiago de Compostela.
Galicia has 30 products with Denominación de orixe (D.O.), some of them with Denominación de Origen Protegida (D.O.P.). [1] D.O. and D.O.P. are part of a system of regulation of quality and geographical origin among Spain's finest producers. Galicia produces a number of high-quality wines, including Albariño, Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra, Monterrei and Valdeorras. The grape varieties used are local and rarely found outside Galicia and Northern Portugal. Just as notably from Galicia comes the spirit Aguardente —the name means burning water—often referred to as Orujo in Spain and internationally or as caña in Galicia. This spirit is made from the distillation of the pomace of grapes.
As in the rest of Spain, football is the most popular sport in Galicia. Deportivo de La Coruña, from the city of A Coruña, is the region's most successful club. Celta de Vigo, from Vigo, are also a major club and are Deportivo's principal regional rivals. When the two sides play, it is referred to as the Galician derby. SD Compostela from Santiago de Compostela and Racing Ferrol from Ferrol are two other notable club sides. Similarly to Catalonia and the Basque Country, Galicia also periodically fields a regional team against the international opposition (see Galicia autonomous football team).
Other popular sports in Galicia include futsal (a variety of indoor football), handball and basketball. Galicia is also noted for a great tradition of maritime sports, both sea and river-based - sports such as rowing, yachting, canoeing and surfing. Gaelic football is also a growing sport in the region, with multiple teams from Galicia playing in GAA Europe competitions.
Galicia is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and Pontevedra.
The province of A Coruña is the northwesternmost province of Spain, and one of the four provinces which constitute the autonomous community of Galicia. This province is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and north, Pontevedra Province to the south and Lugo Province to the east.
A Coruña is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province of A Coruña, having also served as political capital of the Kingdom of Galicia from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and as a regional administrative centre between 1833 and 1982.
Lugo is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, making it the fourth most populous city in Galicia.
Ribeira is the capital of the comarca of Barbanza, in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. The capital and most populous urban center is Santa Uxía de Ribeira. Another of its major points is the center of San Martin de Oleiros. The municipality is administratively divided into nine civil parishes: Aguiño, Artes, Carreira, Castiñeiras, Corrubedo, Oleiros, Olveira, Palmeira and Ribeira.
The Xunta de Galicia is the collective decision-making body of the government of the autonomous community of Galicia, composed of the President, the Vice-president(s) and the specialized ministers (Conselleiros).
Susana Seivane Hoyo is a Galician musician. She was born in Barcelona, Spain, into a family of well-known Galician luthiers and musicians, the Seivane family, whose workshop is the Obradoiro de Gaitas Seivane. She is influenced by skilled bagpipers and is notable in traditional Galician music for synthesizing the style of the ancient bagpipers while creating her own style including other musical influences. Born in Barcelona to a Galician family, she is thereof Galician, from a Coruña to be exact, which is where she has been living for many years now, back in her family home where her family's luthier is located. Many people from Galicia emigrated to other parts of Spain or around the world.
The University of A Coruña is a Spanish public university located in the city of A Coruña, Galicia. Established in 1989, university departments are divided between two primary campuses in A Coruña and nearby Ferrol. The A Coruña campus is spread over three suburbs on the outskirts of A Coruña: Elviña and Zapateira and Oza.
The University of Santiago de Compostela - USC is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia. It is one of the world's oldest universities in continuous operation.
Galician cuisine refers to the typical dishes and ingredients found in the cuisine of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. These include shellfish, empanadas, polbo á feira, cheese queixo de tetilla, ribeiro and albariño wines, and orujo liquor. Similarly, to Asturian cuisine, Galician dishes have maintained several Celtic links, namely with different stews.
Britonia is the name of a Romano-British settlement on the northern coast of the Iberian peninsula at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. The area is roughly that of the northern parts of the modern provinces of A Coruña and Lugo in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.
Padrón is a concello in the Province of A Coruña, in Galicia (Spain) within the comarca of O Sar. It covers an area of 48.4 km2, is 95 km from A Coruña and 23km from Santiago de Compostela. As of 2009, had a population of 8968 according to the INE. Padrón is divided into five parishes:
Galicians are a Romance-speaking European ethnic group from northwestern Spain; they are closely related to the northern Portuguese people and have their historic homeland in Galicia, in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. Two Romance languages are widely spoken and official in Galicia: the native Galician and Spanish.
Narón is a municipality in northwestern Spain in the autonomous community of Galicia. It belongs to the comarca of Ferrol.
Rías Altas is the northernmost of three sections of A Costa do Marisco in Galicia, Spain. It extends from the port of Ribadeo to Santa Cruz.
Galicia's two major economic poles are A Coruña and Vigo, with A Coruña in the lead, producing an estimated 33.2% of VAT receipts against 24.3% from Vigo. A third economic center is Santiago de Compostela, capital of Galicia. Other important cities are Ferrol and Pontevedra. In recent years the distance has grown between the interior provinces, Lugo and Ourense, which are more rural and less developed, and the coastal provinces, Pontevedra and A Coruña, particularly the areas situated along the axis of the A-9 Highway.
The Tour of Galicia is an annual cycling race held in Galicia, Spain. It was first held in 1933 and was held a further five times between 1934 and 1984. The tour did not take place from the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, until the end of the Second World War in 1945. In 1986, it became a regular annual race. The final professional edition of the race was held in 2000. In 2002, after a year's hiatus, the race returned to the calendar as an amateur race.
Viking Festival of Catoira is a secular festival which has been celebrated in Catoira, Spain, every first Sunday in August since 1961, in the surroundings of Castellum Honesti, currently known as Torres de Oeste fortress. It is held to commemorate Catoira's role in defending Galicia against the Vikings, who attempted to plunder the treasure held in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, and also to reenact the Viking invasions that took place there a thousand years ago.
Ánxeles Penas García is a Spanish poet, first in Spanish and, since 1982, in Galician. She has also participated in more than 50 exhibitions as a sculptor and painter.
Camilo Buenaventura Díaz Baliño (1889–1936) was a Spanish writer, politician, Galician intellectual and graphic artist. He was a member of the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country of Santiago, the Irmandades da Fala, the Seminar of Galician Studies, and of the Galicianist Party. He was executed by Franco's Nationalist faction at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.
