Santiago de Compostela

From June 13 to 21

The central walk of the Alameda of Santiago de Compostela is once again filled with booths to show the latest releases and the wide catalog of bookstores, and to allow readers to enjoy encounters with writers and other diverse proposals such as musical performances and shows for the children.

Vigo

From June 25 to July 4

The Vigo Book Fair, which last year left its usual location to move to Calle Príncipe, will be the second stop on the calendar prepared by the Federation of Bookstores of Galicia.

Ponteareas

From July 9 to 12

For the fourth consecutive year, the town of Ponteareas will have this meeting point between the public and the authors. There will be 4 days of activities and presentations in Plaza Maior.

Redondela

From July 16 to 19

The town of the viaducts also becomes for a few days the town of books. The literary and cultural environment will take the Alameda from the town in mid-July.

Rianxo

From July 23 to 26

Cradle of illustrious writers such as Castelao, Manuel Antonio and Rafael Dieste, the town of Rianxo could not miss one more year to the appointment with the books that is celebrated in the square dedicated to the author of works such as Sempre en Galiza.

A Coruña

From August 1 to 10

About to celebrate fifty editions, the Book Fair of A Coruña will reopen the doors of its booths coinciding with the start of August to encourage the public to incorporate reading among their summer leisure options.

Foz

From August 20 to 23

The oldest book fair in A Mariña and Lugo, and one of the most veteran in all of Galicia, will bring some of the most outstanding authors of Galician literature to Foz in the second half of August.

Monforte de Lemos

From August 26 to 29

Without changing the province, the next appointment of the literary tour of the fairs will be in the capital of the Terra de Lemos region to celebrate an event that this year will reach its twenty-third edition.

Ourense

From October 9 to 12

Originally planned as is the tradition for late spring, the Book Fair of Ourense had to be postponed because of the covid, but readers will not be left without their ration of news and activities. It will be finally in October when this meeting will take place that fills the O Paseo Street with animation.

FAIRS OF OLD AND OPPORTUNITY BOOKS

In several of these cities, in dates close to the Book Fairs, sellers and readers will meet again, but not to consult the latest releases, but to look for the discontinued copies, the old volumes and the bargains that the Fairs of Old and Opportunity Books offers us. In this case there are five appointments to keep in mind: Santiago de Compostela (from June 27 to July 12), Vigo (from July 18 to August 2), A Coruña (from August 14 to 31), Lugo (from September 5 to 20) and Ourense (from September 22 to October 4).

berce da miña estirpe,

Galicia, dóce mágoa das Españas,

Deitada rente ao mar, ise camiño…

(And you live in my world, my land,

cradle of my lineage,

Galicia, sweet grief of the Spains,

Lying at sea level, that road …)

Thus ends ‘Deitado frente ao mar’ (‘Lying in front of the sea’), one of the best-known poems by Celso Emilio Ferreiro, in which the Ourense poet reaffirms his love for Galicia’s land, its language and its past. The last of those phrases is the protagonist of one of the best-known places of the town of Foz, in Lugo, as part of a beautiful mural in the heart of the city.

Foz is a small fishing town located in the centre of A Mariña, between Burela and Ribadeo, at the mouth of the Masma River. The municipality has around ten thousand residents and has been one of the best-known tourist destinations in the area for decades. It is not lacking in attractions. Its coastal strip is in the so-called Rasa Cantábrica, a relatively flat area by the sea made out of slate-type rocks. This makes it a territory especially rich in wide, beautiful beaches. In the case of Foz’s 25 kilometres of coastline, many of those beaches are among the most popular for seafaring summers: A Rapadoira, located at the heart of the old town area, or Llas, very close to it; A Pampillosa, at the mouth of the Ouro River, in Fazouro; Arealonga, open to the Cantabrian sea; or Os Alemáns and Areoura, already bordering with the neighboring town of Burela.

Foz was, for a long time, an important fishing port. This is the past that was meant to be honoured with the mural, which is located on the riverbank, across from the small dock. It is located at the foot of the Santiago de Foz church, a small temple of seafaring style that presides over the old town center. Several of the surrounding streets retain all the charm of old-time towns, with their low houses, some of them with balconies, on narrow roads linked to one-another.

The mural conveys the influence of the Sargadelos ceramic factory, located in Cervo, a town very close by. It portrays half a dozen sailors and three shellfish gatherers clearly straining to transporting Celso Emilio’s verses. The work is holds a central place in a very important urban area, an area for recreation and tapas that is very busy at night. In addition, the mural has an almost secret “cousin” located very close by: at the entrance to the dock’s parking lot, on the wall of one of the service buildings, two fisherwomen made out of white, black and blue ceramic carry on their heads a basket filled with fish, in a modern work of art filled with love for the past.

Although it is a coastal town, it is important not to forget the municipality’s attractions inland. Foz has one of the most beautiful churches in Galicia, the San Martiño de Mondoñedo basilica, of pre-Romanesque origin and very pronounced buttresses. If possible, you shouldn’t miss the interior and the stone altarpiece behind the altar, a medieval gem without equal. Also in the municipality, in the Santa Cilla do Valadouro parrish, stands a castle at  the peak of A Frouxeira … or rather what little remained of it after it was razed in the late fifteenth century by the Catholic Monarchs’ troops.

Situated in the estuary of the river Masma, that has created in its mouth a wide surface of white sands.

Situated to the back of the locality of Foz, this sandy space is kept relatively isolated in a natural environment, thanks to being less visited.

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