A Pobra do Caraminal, Galicia

This is a really beautiful town located in the entrance of one of the lower bays of the Galician coastline known as the "ria de Arousa". It is the next stop out of the ria (bay) after "Boiro" and is famous for its unusual festival procession in September.

Highlights of a visit to A Pobra do Caraminal would focus on the large harbour which has keys for both commercial and leisure craft. The stunning alameda which is partially tiled and partially gardened. The old town with its small plazas and coffee bars, and an impressive beach which has fine yellow sand.

We fell upon A Pobra do Caraminal almost by accident as we headed for Boiro, but just as we were about to pass through I asked Maria if she had noticed the name of the town and she said "A Pobra do Caraminal". Realizing that this was the town with the strange fiesta march, we decided to park up and take a closer look.

We found a place to pull up in a large parking zone at the inner bay end of the town and noticed immediately that the commercial part of the harbour was only a hundred yards or so away.

A Pobra do Caraminal's harbour

I was surprised by the size of A Pobra do Caraminal's harbour and the number and scale of fishing vessels in it. Most tourist guides to this area will illuminate you about the fishing heritage of "Ribeira", just a few kilometers away, but A Pobra do Caraminal is only mentioned in passing. That is a serious injustice since the main commercial port of Ribeira is closed to the public, whilst its smaller equivalent is there for all to see at A Pobra.

The fishing boats on display ranged from those which were only dinghy sized, and left on the main ramp, to massive industrial sized fishing boats moored up at a key that extended in to the bay. There were even a couple of large flat container ship equiped with cranes.

There was plenty of activity and all of the evidence pointed towards A Pobra's fishing economy being prosperous and its bay being one of deep water. Added to this, there is a port club or large bar by the side of the Marina where you can have a drink and something to eat whilst watching the comings and goings of the vessels.

Running the length of the harbour, and then continuing parallel with the beach, is a newly constructed footpath and if you choose to follow this you will quickly arrive at the second section of the port.

Here you will find yachts, speedboats and a range of vessels that certainly do not fall in to the commercial category. Again, all of these boats are moored up against a key that projects out to sea, but this time looks more like something you would expect to see at the exclusive Porto Sin Marina in the next bay up the coast.

All three of the photos to the left (above and below) show the port and Marina with the various boats in it.

The bottom picture shows both the Marina cafe and a blue "Customs and Excise" power boat operated by the government. Its main target is drugs trafficing.

The commercial part of the port with many large and small fishing and cargo vessels lays to the side of the leisure boat Marina.