Galicia’s Fiery Love Affair with the Humble Chestnut

In Galicia, when autumn arrives, the air turns smoky with magostos, the hillsides flare with bonfires, and people start talking about chestnuts the way some talk about new lovers: obsessively, reverently, and with just a hint of mischief.

Albariño After the Harvest: Autumn’s Secret Season in Rías Baixas

When the last grapes are pressed and the tourists have gone home, Galicia exhales. The vines blush gold, the air tastes faintly of pears and rain, and the winemakers finally sit down, boots muddy and glasses full. Autumn is Albariño’s quiet season, the moment when its soul reveals itself: softer, saltier, and far more intimate than summer ever lets you see.

Samaín: Galicia’s Night of Fire and Shadows

Long before Halloween came dressed in plastic, Galicia already had Samaín, the original night of fire and spirits. The Celts believed that on the last night of October, the veil between worlds thinned and the living shared their hearths with the dead.

Today, from Allariz to Tui, bonfires flare against the Atlantic fog and carved turnips glow from stone windowsills. Children parade through medieval lanes, drummers echo in the mist, and someone nearby is almost certainly stirring a queimada.

The Complete (and Slightly Impractical) Field Guide to Birdwatching in Galicia

Between Spain and Portugal, the Miño River becomes a runway for ospreys, herons, and patience itself. This is Galicia’s quieter spectacle: birdwatching as meditation.