GALICIA, ESPAÑA

ESPAÑA There are 17 Autonomous regions in Spain. They are a total of 4 official languages Español, Gallego, Vasco, y Catalán In the movie and in Galicia they speak Gallego.

GALICIA, ESPAÑA

Galicia is one of Spain’s 17 Autonomous Communities, located in the northwest corner of Spain, the region of Galicia is an area comprising of grass and granite that has a rugged coastline. It comprises of four provinces, LaCoruña, Pontevedra, Lugo and Ourense, named after their capital cities. It is Europe’s western most region Galicia

The Galician's have their own language called gallego, but all speak "standard" Spanish too. The number of Galician's who speak English is also increasing in line with greater foreign tourism and most bars in the bigger cities will have waiters and waitresses who speak some English and possibly French or German.  Language

History Galicia has had its fair share of invasions – the Celts around 600BC, the Romans around 50AD, the Visigoths around 400AD, the Normans during the Middle Ages and the French in 1808. The region was also visited from time to time by Francis Drake in the 16th century. Interestingly, though, the region was largely unaffected by the occupation of Spain by the Moors from the 8th century onwards. True, the Arabs ransacked Santiago de Compostela in 977 but they didn’t hang around much after that, perhaps finding the mountains and the winter rains too much to bear. The Celtic influence is most prominent in Galicia and it has been described as Ireland but with sun.

Francis Drake, born around 1540-1544 in Devonshire, England, was involved in piracy and illicit slave trading before being chosen in 1577 as the leader of an expedition intended to pass around South America, through the Strait of Magellan, and explore the coast that lay beyond. Drake successfully completed the journey and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I upon his triumphant return. He later saw action in the English defeat of the Spanish Armada. Sir Francis Drake

Galicia has five cathedrals, the most famous of which is in Santiago de Compostela. This building is claimed to hold the body of saint James, who is also the city's patron, and is the target destination for pilgrims following the famous Camino Christian pilgrimage from France and Portugal.

El Camino de Santiago The Way of St. James or St. James' Way is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried. The James whose shrine is at Santiago de Compostela, in north-west Spain, was the brother of John. Saint James is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus.

Camino de Santiago

Julio Iglesias The famous Spanish singer, Julio Iglesias, although born in Madrid, is in fact of Galician heritage and this has been reflected in some of his recordings including, "A Song to Galicia" and "Homesickness".

There are only seven cities in Galicia with a population of more than 50.000 people.

The autonomous government of Galicia (established in April 1981) is called the "Xunta de Galicia". The Galician flag has in fact only existed since the 17th century, the original flag of Galicia was similar to that of Portugal. The coat of arms in the center of the flag is required for all state functions.

FUN FACTS Housing costs are cheaper in Galicia than almost anywhere else in Spain. Crime statistics reported in April 2003, showed Galicia as being well down the list, at number 17 out of 19 regions. The worst were Spain’s possessions in northern Africa, followed by the Balearic Islands, the east coast and then Madrid.  Galicia is slowly losing its population, especially in the interior. Since 1986, there has been a net loss of about 10,000 people a year. This is despite the arrival of ‘immigrants’ and returning emigrants. The main reason is that the death rate is higher than the birth rate, though departure from the land certainly plays a role.

FUN FACTS 2 Galicia has many rivers, most of them quite small, and is known throughout the rest of Spain as "the land of a thousand rivers". The Hymn of Galicia is "Os Pinos" (The Pine Trees). Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires, has the largest single city population of Galicians anywhere in the world.

Faro - Torre Hércules The Tower of Hercules (Galician and Spanish: Torre de Hércules) is an ancient Roman lighthouse on a peninsula about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the centre of A Coruña, Galicia, in north-western Spain. The name Corunna is said to be derived from the ancient columna, meaning column. The structure is 55 meters (180 ft) tall and overlooks the North Atlantic coast of Spain. The structure, almost 1900 years old and rehabilitated in 1791, is the oldest Roman lighthouse still used as a lighthouse. The Tower of Hercules is a National Monument of Spain, and since June, 27 2009 the Tower of Hercules is also considered an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the second tallest lighthouse in Spain, after the Faro de Chipiona. Torre

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