Northern Spain is now a Must-Visit – Here's Why

yeah last summer in Madrid was rough so this year we made a plan we rented a house for the whole month of August in galia's green and temperate rias Bashas region right on the Atlantic in Northwestern Spain this is the reason we came to Northern Spain this August all of this it's currently a perfect 19° C or just below 70 F and we the only ones Spain's temperate Northern climbs are becoming increasingly popular with tourists and people moving to this country so in this video we're going to take you on a day in the life of our holiday in Northern Spain and share some of the reasons we think this part of the country is becoming the new cool place to visit in all senses of the word from Green Hills to white sand beaches to delicious fresh seafood it really is a wonderful part of the country but let's kick off with The Grand Tour of the rather Grand home we rented we're in this secluded little Forest which was all uh albino the local grape was was was grapes like Vines up here uh and then no longer obviously but what we actually have is the Old Winery which is not particularly attractive we don't use any of this where we're staying in is the house well we're planning to start making wine soon are we okay come for the wine so what we are uh staying in is the old house I want to spend too long giving you the tour of the house because one it's a mess uh family on holiday with a baby and two it's not really what we came for and it's really basic right is that your Minnie Mouse yolly you lift that out I told you to put that away I know I'm sorry so embarrassing kitchen really simple kitchen but does the trick heading through two bathrooms just a a simple bathroom here and uh one with a shower here this is what we call the conservatory where yolly keeps her dolls my dolls and my yeah little swimming costume yeah is this yours yolly you might be wondering for all this beautiful cool weather is it pool weather uh and I mean this is like this is amazing look at this lawn and this beautiful saltwater pole and so you're wondering like would you use a pool if you come for holiday and Galan it's so cool because where we are is we're on the Atlantic we're not on the so it has this cooling influence uh this sort of this mild slightly damp uh weather but have we used the pool Yoli yes we have but while climate is the main reason why we came here what that climate gives to this region is its beautiful greenness and all the wonderful trees and this property that we've rented has something pretty unique uh to offer so let's go go and check that out now I'm going to be honest as a kiwi living in Madrid I miss verdant nature a little so I love the North's Rolling Hills and forests and this house we've rented is surrounded by a mindblowing 150,000 square m of forest cut through with winding Trails yep Overkill I know but there you go this was all Vines uh this was all Albarino the local grape and then was planted by the grandfather of the current owner and then it got sort of divided up amongst various grandkids and now it's just sort of forest and there is mint all covering the ground you know everywhere you look pretty you know look at this that's all mint there just wild yeah mint peppermint I don't really know you know the difference but uh wild growing like that beautiful I mean you can actually smell it like everywhere really I can't I can't smell the wild mint I can smell it if why I'm I'm the super taster and you're not I can smell it if I stick it up my knot okay I think it's peppermint it's like can you see ghosts and stuff can you you know smelly ghosts only all these eucalyptus trees kind of blew me away uh when we came up here and they're not native native trees here are Chestnut and Oak but what happened in the 1950s the central government incentivized people uh to plant eucalyptus or at least started planting eucalyptus to create pulp to make paper but it was a bad idea because it's just taken over the these eucalyptus trees have taken over and they actually because they burn really easily it's created a bigger problem for wildfires so there's actually volunteers who are going around and cutting down or or stripping these trees so they die uh and then replanting them with uh with indigenous species of trees you know the Oak and the chestnut but this I love this is a beautiful tree and I suspect well let us know in the comments if you know what this is uh I suspect this is a is this a chestnut this is what we want more of in Galia if this is indigenous to here which I believe it is maybe it's not a chestn I have no idea but look at the shape it's just beautiful I don't if you can see it behind me this gorgeous [Music] canopy but we're not going to hang about on our massive estate all day long it's time to explore further and for that in Galia ideally you have a car car we found is um you know quite handy to have because uh you know of trips to see other towns or go to the beach or even you know doing the shopping uh you know it's quite handy to have and while you need a car to get around when you're up here uh you might also be wondering how do you get here how do you get to this this part of Spain so I mean obviously train uh is great there train connections up to Vigo uh a city nearby where we are Pont Vedra there's also an airport in Vigo and an airport in Santiago de compostella all right let me get out for SEC because this is a great spot to show you where we are uh we're in the rias Bas which means the lower estries uh and this is one of them here this is the Atlantic Ocean out here and this is the EST or the r de p and people have homes kind of on the Hills uh on the slopes and they have a lot of land look these people have it looks like an olive tree they have they have fruit trees here over here they've got grapes their own grapes which presumably maybe they're making their own wine and one thing you'll see out there I'm not sure if you can see it on the GoPro are these little RS those are what are called Bas in in Spanish they're they're rafts for cultivating muscles uh muscles have been cultivated here since the 50s uh with the system there's about 3,000 of them throughout this R spaceous region where the rafts have ropes dropping from them uh and muscles are grow on the rfts and and Galia after China is the world's biggest second biggest producer or supplier of muscles to the world but while the climate and Greenery Drew us here there's something we've discovered that we didn't really expect we're staying near the old fishing town of buale and while it's not the most beautiful Seaside Town it has wonderful slow local rhythms a far cry from some of the more intense summer hot spots on Spain's Mediterranean Coast but the seafood market open most mornings is always bustling this is BU huge biggest crabs here I believe bante lobster crayfish and even wit is wit neora velvet crab we're going to try some of that today muscles that are cultivated here clams literally like a seafood changa outside the market locals sell fresh fruit and vegetables much of it grown on their own small plots of land I oh wow it's a different experience coming here in summer it's not just rows of sort of businesses and daas bars and and the beach it's like there's a market and there's locals selling their own products uh to well not tourists but other locals as well what I wanted to kind of share with you guys is that this town is an old fishing town it's got some nice beaches along here there's currently a couple down there hardcore hardcore Beach people here in the morning it's not full on like it might be in other parts of Spain and the people feel different like it's a different mixx of people than you might get in other sort of tourist spots in Spain right definitely way more Spaniards uh you don't really hear English or other languages so much spoken Portuguese sometimes yeah uh but yeah it does feel way more local within you know Spain do you know where we're going Yolie we're going up up up up up up up up up we found a place up in the hills near where we're staying that has become kind of like our little Caton our happy place uh here in well we're going to head up there now cuzz it's uh really local and super cool and the food is delicious off you go all right welcome to Fara a little place in the Hills we love blink and you'll miss it it doesn't even have a sign on the front one of the things I love about this bar is that the menu is just this and no prices nothing it's been run by Christina's family for the last 50 OD years and serves fresh seafood right from the estrich waters this looks like water but it is half a bottle of Albarino the local wine totally unlabeled just that's how it is not in a wine [Music] glass so here we have the Empanada which is one of the classic dishes here right is in Madrid the Imp bananas never taste like they do in Galia these are always better yeah but also this is with cornbread which you don't get in M no I don't know of any places that do it so seaf frood so Sofrito like a little Peppers fried down and then this has [Music] sardines oh yeah so good such a classic dish here so this is velvet crab I called it red velvet crab in the market which is the name of a cake not a crab my technique is just to crack along crack crack alone or crack along crack along she always cracks alone and then just work my way through it glad you did your nails I know that was that was a concern yesterday before filming look look oh I'm getting something did you get some meat [Music] yay lovely sweet crab meat you know sweet crab meat [Music] this is Galan style octopus which is boiled and is covered in olive oil salt and paprika this is the place to get great octopus so perfectly cooked so tender one great thing from the times that we've come here is that we always make friends uh from you know with the people alongside on on other tables um I don't know it's just like a great Vibe you know like everyone seems to kind of know each other and it's like everyone is in really good mood you know yeah so we've got the the pesc a selection of local fish salmones these are these are like little sardines these are like I don't know what they are but uh whatever they're delicious got some chips to keep the the child happy while we're filming and this and this salad needs a particular int production everywhere we go in Galia there is an option to order this salad tomato lettuce onion with a simple vinegarette and oh my God it is so good so just peeling it off you seeing this yolly you seeing just like and I kind of like that it's kind of slow eating cuz you have to take time right to make sure you're not going to choke on a bone is serving me with the the the Guion just like beautifully cooked fish you know confession I have a weird relationship with sand and I can't handle intense heat in short I'm not much of a beach bum but the beaches up here have won my approval not too busy not too hot and yeah there is sand but what can you do so next we're heading to our favorite Beach so far and while yolia accompanies luia for her nap let me show you the most beautiful beach access I've ever experienced so the sun is shining it's warm but it's not too hot and that for me is the ideal uh Beach weather for for non- Beach lovers if you're if you're not Beach obsessed and even if you are Beach obsessed I think this kind of Suits everyone a little bit and I just look look at this you got I mean I sound like such a city slicker again tomatoes on the vine up here corn these little plots that you'll see all over Galia look at this place that's a serious gate should we peep through very cool Beware of the Dog I just love this walk to the beach so I can peer into people's plots I have plot Envy look over here grapes on the vine just beside the walk to the beach look these guys have got quite a lot so maybe they're making their own wine maybe they just maybe it's for personal use they've got red down here I'll keep going until someone shouts or I hear I hear shots fired look you got red as well not just Albarino it's beautiful huh so even if you hate the beach you get to walk through Vineyards on Route which makes it bearable but to prove to you that the water really is wonderful here are some quick clips of me frolicking a few days earlier just what you always wanted to see right I tell you what it's cooler than the mid but it's really refreshing but there is one thing I do love about beaches and it's a drink at a chitting gito a little beach bar like this one and what I adore about the chingos here in Gala is that they're just simple Affairs a little Hut with chairs and tables on the beach just like how they used to be okay here they come it's like you're crossing the desert it kind of feels like that question yeah is this sand white or is it off-white I would say off-white oh really it's not quite white d inas one thing I'll add about these beaches that I've been seeing in Gala is that usually there are way more people on the sand than in the water uh probably because it's you see not as inviting the temperature of the water just a little bit cooler just a little bit cooler uh very refreshing very nice and also it's not as hot outside right so you can more or less be without having the need right the Sun is going down and before we finish our day together there is a place we've discovered that we want to show you that you know I think is pretty special so let's go and check that out if I'm not a beach person well yolly and I are not not really a hiking couple but when in Galia you really do need to put your walking shoes on we're getting serious we're getting the sneakers on are you doing okay there hiking couple in action going to see my bre no that's the whole idea of the scene yeah is it this way yeah so we left all the cars behind this is when it gets real serious did you bring the tent we don't even have water no we have water well we have luia water just to walk up there okay okay what do the ancient Greeks say call no man lucky until he's dead this may be the uh is that Roman is that gilic a Roman roller coaster glad we haven't got the stroller be a nightmare often that must be said I want to do something like this and you'll think it's a bad idea but you're glad when we get to the top yeah 40% of the time fingers crossed this is 40% of one of those times yeah I'm me to the woman up in front just said wow that was worth it are you sure you're not making it up no oh very lovely wow that's awesome wow it is beautiful up here to quote the lady it's worth it they should put it on the t-shirts for this place it's worth it don't worry and you can see over here the the r deontra the pedra history the one that we're staying on the the island also beautiful to visit and the vgo EST another one through there and there's something I want to show you over here these buildings these slow buildings with rocks this is a Casto what's called a Casto and it's a Hilltop Fort and there's they're from the Iron Age they over 2,000 years old uh I believe I'm not an archaeologist but from what I've read and you'll find them all through Galia and other parts of Northern Spain people would live here and in and in the land around farm the land and they would come up here when they needed defense there's more over there down here and the people who lived here before the Romans were the Kelts uh Kelts were people who lived all over Europe and they built these castles these Hilltop Forts and in the last sort of 100 200 years Galia has gotten more in touch with its Celtic past and it's something they're really proud of people lived in here you can see what may have been some sort of oven here look at this still intact all right let's strap the baby on and get back down my turn right oh and before I forget if you want to see some other videos we've made about Galia cuz we have made a couple there'll be a playlist appearing around my head somewhere right now so click that and we'll see you over there soon ciao

Channel: Spain Revealed

Views: 207,272

Keywords: james black spain, james blake spain, yoly james, spain revealed, yoly spain, spain couple, spain guide, yolly james, yoli james

Id: jJvkKJV7-_4

Length: 18min 56sec (1136 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 17 2023