Galicia’s Death Coast: a land of danger and beauty

On the northwest of Galicia lies Costa da Morte, also known as the Death Coast. It is a land of shipwrecks which is where its nickname was earned from, and also the ancient end of the known world. Here you will find some of the highest cliffs in Europe, as well as the only river that reaches the sea with a waterfall on this continent. Savage nature, legends, magical ancient patrimony… do you dare to discover Galicia’s Death Coast: a land of danger and beauty?

Galicia’s wildest area

Costa da Morte, or the Death Coast, follows the west side of Galicia, from Carnota to Malpica. This area combines sweet white sand beaches, threatening cliffs, intrepid capes going into the ocean and calm estuaries protected by its walls. The sheer strength of the ocean exploding against the inland is a spectacle not to be missed. 

Precisely it is this strength of the sea that has caused a lot of shipwrecks in this area. The worst one happened in 1890: an English ship, the Serpent, was lost with almost all its crew - only three sailors survived. The neighbours of Vilan Cape heard them screaming all night and with the dawn began the search, but nothing could be done. The local priest prompted the locals to collect all the corpses and thus was born the English Cemetery, one of the most singulars cemeteries of all Europe. For years, the English ships passing by would do the salute of ordinance in honour of their dead colleagues. 

The Spanish authorities realized the local lighthouse had a huge flaw: its feeble light left a blank point that included a dangerous area full of rocks. Hence, this lighthouse was replaced by a new one, the first in Spain to work with electric light. Since then, the Death Coast has not been that lethal. 

The other main lighthouse of the area is located at Finisterre. Its light is crucial to sail these dangerous waters at night, especially around the Centulo - demon - rock. This is where many sailors have lost their lives. In Roman times, this area was thought to be the end of the world, where the sun melted into the sea. Thus, beyond this cape, everything would be darkness and monsters. Therefore, an ancestral cult to the sun was celebrated here. To this day you can still visit some magical stones associated to this belief: a rock seat, a sepulchre, etc. It is also the end of the Camino de Santiago for many pilgrims. 

Finisterre Lighthouse

Cabo Fisterra, s/n, 15155 Fisterra, A Coruña, España

The lighthouses ensure the wellbeing of the ships, but other dangers cannot be helped. In this area, many people work at one of the most lethal human labours: the collect of the barnacle. The precious mollusc grows attached to unattainable rocks, and one has to be very skilful and avoid the aggressive waves in order to rip it off. Remember this whenever you are eating barnacles in any of the fishermen towns that populate this shore! Look at this picture and try to find the brave man...

Savage nature and magical patrimony

All the Death Coast is full of peaceful white sand beaches that make you forget the real reason of this name. However, here and there you will find traces of the strength of nature. For instance, at Ferveza do Ezaro. This majestic waterfall is the only one in Europe coming from a river and falling straight into the ocean, so it is a spectacle not to be missed. You can visit it all season long, but it is better to do it in summer, where you will have more likely sunny days to appreciate its 40 metres of free fall. The last section of the Xallas river has a 155 metres difference of level, so you can imagine how strongly the water impacts with the ocean! 

Fervenza do Ezaro

Rio do Barco, s/n, 15297 Dumbría, A Coruña, España

If you want to have the best view over this wonder of the nature, there is a great mirador from where you can take the best pictures. 

As for the patrimony, I find it equally wild, perfectly in connexion with the surrounding landscape. Some of it is rooted at the dawn of times, like the Dombate or the Pedra Moura dolmen. From Celtic times you can visit nine villages… only in this area! The most known is Castro Borneiro, very well preserved. These Celtic people had in near Mount Pindo their holy mountain, kind of an Olympian mount where their gods inhabited. 

Near this mount, do not miss the Carnota granary - one of the longest of Spain, supported by pillars so mice would not eat the grain. Nearby, the Carnota beach is the longest of Galicia (7 kilometres!). 

The ancient inhabitants of the Death Coast needed magic in order to survive this place, and we can still find traces of it everywhere, although its original meaning has been sometimes lost. One of the best examples of this is the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Boat. 

Although the first document related to this place is dated in 1544, this holy spot is much, much older. The first chapel was built on the 11th or the 12th century, but the magic stones you can visit there speak of a much ancient cult. These are stones with healing properties, like the Swinging stone, or fortune-telling, like the Lovers’ stone. There are also stones known as Kidneys and Wheel. All of them are said to be remains of a stone boat that according to the legend brought Our Lady to this land, in order to help Apostle Saint James in his evangelisation of the area. As a curiosity, the Celtic thought that their heroes would sail west on their last journey on a stone boat! Also, the sanctuary’s feasts are in September, when thousands come to celebrate their devotion to Our Lady of the boat. 

A visit to this area is never complete if you do not stop by some of the picturesque fishermen’s town that populate this region. This tour, leaving from Santiago de Compostela, will take you to the main touristic attractions of the Death Coast. 

How to get here

The best way to move around the Death Coast is by car. Most of the attractions are close to each other, so it is very easy to do all the tours around them. However, if you have time, there is even a better proposal for you: to do the Lighthouses Hike. This route, always facing west, will allow you to admire beaches, dunes, rivers, cliffs, forests, estuaries with a large number of birds, granite seas, forts, dolmens, fishing villages, viewpoints of the sea that breaks in all possible ways, sunsets... everything existing in your checklist, this route has it! 

Also, there are great places for you to stay if you want to travel and work:  beautiful houses for a very good budget, like Apartamento Playa Blanca, right in front of an idyllic beach. So, you see, you have beautiful lodgement, hauntingly gorgeous nature, astonishing ancient patrimony, and of course great seafood. Wait no more and come visit Galicia’s Death Coast: a land of danger and beauty!