Cíes Islands, the Islands of Gods

Have you ever heard of the Islas Cíes or the Cíes Islands? Interestingly not even the Spanish themselves seem to know about this gorgeous place. I stumbled upon it by chance last year when I found a picture in my Spanish course book. All the students wanted to know where was the photo taken and after class I jumped on Google maps to find the place. At that time Galicia was waaaaaay out of reach however as I was planning to finish the Camino Portugués in that region I thought I could reward myself with a beach day.

Why are the Islands so amazing? This beach paradise with its crystal clear gorgeous green-blue water is Spain’s biggest secret and definitely amongst the most beautiful places I have seen in the country (and considering how much I have already seen of Spain this is saying a lot!). Even the Romans appreciated their beauty and called them ‘the Islands of Gods’. Even though nowadays people aren’t as dramatic when giving names they still call them the ‘Spanish Caribbean’ or the ‘Galician Seychelles’.

The Cíes archipelago is made up of three islands, Monte Agudo, O Faro and San Martiño. They form part of the Atlantic Islands National Park and are highly protected. Thanks to this they managed to retain their natural beauty and have stayed as unspoiled as they possibly can. You are warned not to take anything from the island (not even shells) and asked to carry your rubbish back with you when you leave. There is only one restaurant, one bar and a small supermarket on the island and not much else.

The only way to get to the Islands is by boat which leaves from the towns of Vigo, Cangas or Baiona. From Vigoit it takes about 40-45 minutes and at the time of writing a daily return ticket costs 18.50 euros per person. (OR you can come with your own yacht, you know the one that’s in your garage, but you need special permission for that.)

You will see many people getting of the boat, flopping down on the closest free patch of sand and staying there for the rest of the day, for example this little girl who geared up for the day to come carrying no less than three (3!) spades with her! Her day is sorted.

Apart from lying on the sand there are other things to do here, too. There are a few short, easy hiking routes that will take you to great viewpoints to admire the view. Don’t be surprised if people do this in their bikinis and flip-flops, the routes are that easy!

Due to its location the Islands are popular with birdwatchers, too. Throw in your snorkel and flippers, too, if you want to do some snorkelling. As 86% of the National Park is underwater there’s great diving to be found around however scuba diving is strictly controlled. If you’re interested, try buceobalea.com.

Due to the Islands’ protected status the amount of people who can visit one day is limited to 2200. It sounds a lot and as the Islands are not that well known it is usually not a problem to get tickets on the day however it’s better if you book a few days in advance with the boat companies (there are quite a few).

You won’t find hotels or apartments on any of the islands, staying here is only possible in a tent and only for one night. It is possible to hire one that’s already set up or bring your own stuff. Booking is essential. For more info check out this website.

Finally a word of warning, nudism seem to be the norm here (although it seemed to be pursued only on the smaller beaches) so don’t be surprised by uncovered bodies running up and down on the beach in front of you!

Galícia – La playa de las Catedrales

There’s this place in Galícia that is just so achingly beautiful that once you see it you’ll always want to go back. It is the Playa de las Catedrales, the Beach of the Cathedrals.

The beach got its name from the rock formations that stand like arches one after another in a row. These are however hidden from prying eyes as they can be only seen during low tide. As the surface of the beach is almost horizontal the tide moves very quickly leaving only a few minutes to enjoy it at its full beauty. The difference between the lowest and highest point of the tide is 4m.

Well, I don’t actually know how to tell you this as you will probably be very disappointed but … we didn’t actually see the arches. We left Oviedo in the afternoon and only had one evening there. The weather that weekend was typically Asturian: gloomy, gray and rainy. As that was our last weekend in this region we still went on a weekend trip as we were desperate to see a few more treasures. One of these was this beach.

We had two chances to see the playa, late afternoon and the next morning and the forecast said rain for both occasions. When we got to Ribadeo, the town on the border of Asturias and Galicia it was raining cats and dogs. The beach was just about 10km from the town and our hotel was halfway. The low tide was said to be at 18.30 but due to the weather we couldn’t go and see it. As soon as the sun broke through the rainclouds, though, we jumped in the car and drove down to the beach.

We got there around 19.00 and by that time the tide was coming in. We saw a few tourist buses in the car park and there were quite a lot of people there even at the end of September. We walked down the few steps on the stairs and this was the view waiting for us.

The beach is surprisingly big and took us a few minutes to actually find the arches themselves, tucked away at the end. By then the water was high enough that we didn’t want to risk walking into it. 

We noticed with amusement that a couple were having their wedding photo shots taken in the sea. We had the same idea for our wedding photos but instead the cold waters of the European seas we did them in the warm tropical water of the Philippines. We didn’t have a photographer, Paul took all the shots. Have a look if you’d like. I kind of felt sorry for these guys as we were all wearing jackets and they had to roll around in the cold sea in their wedding outfits.

And it started to rain. Not a real rain, only that soft drizzle that here in Asturias they call ‘chirimiri’. Lots of people turned back but we didn’t give it up and soon the sun came up and shined through the rain.

As we were walking around the beach a rainbow appeared then soon another followed! All the three photographers of the couple suddenly livened up and ordered them around. Some wedding photos with a double rainbow!

It was such a special time, the rainbows made our time on the beach magical. The tide however was coming in very quickly and we decided to go home.

Next morning however we woke up early to see the playa again. The low tide was again 6.30 but the sun came up at 8.15 so there was no point getting up too early, we wouldn’t have been able to see anything. We got there when the sun was just about to come up and this time we were the only people on the whole beach.

Again, by the time we got there the arches were already under water but we still had an amazing time enjoying the view, just the two of us.    

The Playa de los Catedrales is in Galícia but very close to the border of Asturias, so whichever region you are in you can get there easily. If you´d like to see the famous arches make sure you go there during low tide however if you have a chance, visit during high tide, too, to see the difference. Here is the page of the daily, updated tide timetable.

Galícia – Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compostela is the capital city of the Galícian region of Northern Spain. It is also the end destination of all the pilgrims who walk the Camino de Santiago, as the tomb that is said to house St. James’s remains is here in the cathedral. This is where my long journey ended, too, when I finally got my ‘Compostela’, the official certificate from the Cathedral of Santiago that I completed the journey.

Many pilgrims leave their walking sticks in front of the Pilgrim's Office.

Apart from the obvious emotions I felt when arriving to the capital I think Santiago is a gorgeous city and I’d like to show it to you. I have to apologise as a few days before I arrived my camera broke so I took the rest of the photos with my phone and the quality of the photos isn’t that great.

Nobody knows where the town got its name. Well, the Santiago bit is obvious (James), however the compostela part has two explanations. According to the first one, campus means ‘field’ and stella means ‘star’ in Latin, therefore the name would mean ‘field of stars’. This is also supported by the fact that the town is in such a place that on clear nights you can see the Milky Way. I can also agree with this. We woke up at 4.15am that morning to do walk the last 20km to Santiago. The sun came up after 7 so we did half of our walk in the darkness with the light of torches (thank you for the Duck torch, Sylvia!). We were lucky to have a clear night and honestly I have never seen so many stars in my life! 

The second explanation connects the name to other (seemingly) random Latin words such as compostium, ‘burial ground’ or compositellam, ‘the well composed one’.

The Cathedral of Santiago is in the heart of the Old town. It is huge, very busy and even though there are other buildings around it still dominates the square. It has a cross shape and the masses are held in the middle section. It also has something that made it special, a huge incense burner that during special occasions they swing along the church.

As there are pilgrims arriving every single day in a constant wave, every single day at 12.00 there is a mass especially for them, the ‘Pilgrim’s Mass’. We were so lucky that we arrived on a Sunday as this is the only day of the week when they swing the incense burner.

As I already mentioned I am not religious and I’ve only attended one or two masses in my life although they were ‘special occasion masses’, for Christmas or for a deceased one. I felt that attending the Pilgrim’s Mass was a great way of ending my walk and I have never seen a Spanish mass so I decided to attend.

This was the strangest mass I’ve ever seen. Most of the people were pilgrims wearing outdoor clothes, short and t-shirts and walking shoes. Although they make every effort to make sure that pilgrims don’t attend with their big backpacks and walking sticks for those who arrived just before the start they cannot say no. This why the sides of the church were full of tired looking pilgrims sitting on top of their backpacks, walking sticks everywhere around the walls, sometimes you could here some of them falling with a huge clatter.

The mass itself was very interesting, even through my eyes. At the beginning they mentioned the number of pilgrims who registered at the Pilgrim’s Office in the last 24 hours and the countries they came from. It was mainly in Spanish but there was a lady who spoke for a few minutes in English and made a certain blessing that was repeated in eight different languages by priests who queued up in front of the microphone. Even the church choir (whose uniform was a black shirt and St. James’ scallop around their necks) sang songs in English, in German and even gospel music! One of my Camino friends was American and she recognised it.

When it was time for the incense burner, six helpers came out and pulled the string together. As soon as it started to swing, many people got their phones out and started to take photos and videos! During the mass! I thought that it won’t make any difference if I join in, too, so I took some photos. Again, apologies for the quality.

After the mass we went to find our hotel. Thanks to another Camino friend, a French lady who has done the walk before, we landed individual, en-suite rooms in the very prestigious Benedictine Monastery of San Martino Pinario.

The building is huge (it was the second biggest in Spain) and the hotel only occupies one side of it. The façade is very lavishly decorated although inside the decoration is simple and cold. Some photos of the building.

They have a special rate for pilgrims. We walked in the hotel in awe but soon realised that the rooms we have are on the very top and they are VERY basic. We really didn’t mind as for the first time in 12 days we slept alone, we didn’t have to hear anybody snoring or wake up many times during the night for people going to the toilet or drop something, and we didn’t have to wait for the bathroom in the morning. Bliss! AND buffet breakfast was included.

The view from my tiny window.

After sorting everything out I went to explore the city a bit. Santiago’s old town is full of very old buildings and churches, almost every square has its own church or chapel, even if it’s only a little one. Again, just like walking in a completely different century. I could almost imagine hooded monks and nuns walking on these streets. The scallop, St. James´ symbol can be found everywhere.

Santiago was the first city where I saw a Parador. Paradors are monasteries converted into luxury hotels for the wealthy, often kings and queens stay in them. They were dreamt up by Franco who ordered one to be next to every famous landmark or great scenery. Santiago’s Parador is one of the best and we were cheeky enough to walk into the one right next to the Cathedral (!) and look around in the lobby. Our jaws literally dropped! We asked a guy behind the counter if they have special pilgrims’ rates and he said the prices start form 254 euros per night! I guess the W hotel in Barcelona was double the price but that’s just a hotel, this is a former monastery! I couldn‘t take photos from the inside but took some from the outside.

I didn’t have time to see everything but I am already planning my second Camino so I will make sure to do so on my second visit.