GALICIA

GALICIA CLIMATE, HISTORY, AND CULTURE

CLIMATE (AND HOW TO PACK FOR IT!)

Spain is a very dry and hot country, and by Spanish standards Galicia is seen as being very cool and very green (which is a rare sight in central and southern Spain). Summers are mild here, so while the rest of Spain is glued to their fan, you will experience a cool breeze. Temperatures in summer usually stay in the 60’s and 70’s (ºF), or from 18 to 22 ºC, except in Ourense, often referred to as o forno de Galicia (the oven of Galicia), which can be a bit hotter 95 (ºF) and upwards, or 35ºC and up. The mantra while packing should be LAYERS, LAYERS, LAYERS, as even in late spring / early summer it is often 30-40 degrees in the morning. Additionally, in response to COVID-19, schools were required to keep windows open during the school day, so a variety of layers is key. During the winter, it is not unusual to see forecasts where every day for a week is predicted to have some amount of rain, and many residents carry umbrellas with them everywhere they go, just in case.

You’ll see all kinds of rain here, too, from bona fide thunderstorms (rare) and periods of intense, pouring rain, to grey days where it drizzles on and off all day, to sun showers, where a glorious day will be interrupted by an hour or two of light rain. In fact, in Galician language, there are dozens and dozens of words for rain. Some Galician cities experience around 130 days of rain throughout the year, which is what makes most of the region so beautifully and intensely green year-round. Ourense and the coastal zones to the south, like Vigo and Pontevedra, are comparatively sunnier and boast beautiful beaches and natural preserves, but, if you’re living in Santiago, you’ll be living in one of the rainiest cities in all of Spain. A solid rain coat will become an essential staple of your wardrobe. Past grantees recommend getting a longer rain coat (ie: covering the tops of your legs) to protect you when your umbrella just isn’t quite enough.

As you can see in this video (subtitles are available in English), Galician people embrace the rain optimistically with the phrase, “se chove, que chova!” (“if it rains, let it rain!”) and you can do the same! Although you will experience heavy rain, you will find that by being right on the coast, Galicia experiences very mild winters. Snow is very rare, and temperatures usually stay above freezing, with the average winter temperatures ranging in the 40’s and 50’s ºF (or from 5-10ºC), unless of course you are in the mountains. However, due to the humidity, winters can still feel rather cold. Depending on your school, many students and teachers will wear their winter coats inside the classroom during the school day, so past grantees have also suggested bringing a warm coat to use during the winter months. To reiterate, the mantra for packing should be LAYERS, LAYERS, LAYERS.

The rain and humidity should be taken into consideration during your housing search. Some apartments are either poorly heated or have no heat at all. You may have to depend on the commonly-used small electric space heaters (which you can try to buy online through websites like www.segundamano.es, at Media Markt, or El Corte Inglés), and you will likely want to invest in a couple of good blankets and a rubber hot water bottle. Some former grantees strongly recommend avoiding space heaters all together by including central heating as an essential element during your housing search, but this might severly limit the apartments you visit.  You may also want to budget a few euros every week or two to dry your clothes at a laundromat, as, due to the heavy rains and high humidity, it is sometimes difficult for clothes to dry outside (or in your living room) on the clothesline. Mold is also a common problem in Galician apartments, so you might want to invest in a dehumidifier. Before deciding to buy it, talk to your flatmates/potential flatmates to make sure they all agree on paying for extra electricity to run a dehumidifier. Generally speaking, be sure to ask about the heating situation and check for mold spots (especially if you have mold-related allergies!) when you visit apartments! 

As far as packing is concerned, the advice in the In-Country Guide holds true, but you should bring apparel better-suited to cool and rainy weather. A warm winter coat (having a hood is a plus), hat, gloves, scarves, warm sweaters, heavy socks or thick tights, thick pajamas (or comfy sweatshirts to, once again, layer) and slippers for indoors for the winter months will be necessary. Especially if you’re living with roommates, slippers are a cultural norm, and it could be considered odd to walk around the house in socks! You can usually buy slippers and good outerwear for very cheap in local street markets (check that it is actually warm/waterproof and not just fashionable!). Also, be prepared with appropriate boots or rain boots, a raincoat or plan to buy them upon arrival. Previous grantees cannot stress enough the importance of waterproof shoes. Definitely buy an umbrella (or two, or ten) there–they’re inconvenient to pack. Bubble umbrellas are recommended because they tend to be more wind resistant! Bring a variety of comfortable shoes, such as flats, sandals, a pair of dressier shoes, fashion sneakers/tennis shoes, and athletic shoes or hiking boots  if you plan to go running or hiking in the Cantabrian Mountains. Shoes weigh a lot and take up a lot of room in luggage, so be selective and practical about what you bring. Consider packing them in your carry-on bag and leave behind whatever is worn out at the end of your trip. Don’t forget that you can always go shopping in Spain (budget permitting!), and Spanish leather is of very high quality. However, women’s shoes above a size 9.5/10 are usually difficult to find. Past grantees have said that there are many shoe stores in Spain, often with quite cheap to reasonable prices, so you may want to spend those oversized baggage fees on shoes in Spain instead.

HISTORY

Historically, Galicia was first inhabited by the Gallaeci, a group of Celtic people, and earned its name from these people. In 19 BCE, it was incorporated into the Roman Empire, and after that, was included in various kingdoms, occasionally having their own kings. Unlike much of Spain, the Moorish invaders in the 8th century CE never reached Galicia, and Galicia became part of the Christian kingdom of Asturias by the middle of the century. In the middle ages, Galicia was ruled by the kingdoms of Castilla and León at various times–Castilla and León are historically considered the kingdoms that eventually became Spain.

In 1936, a popular vote for Galicia’s autonomy received overwhelming support from Galicians, but was nullified by dictator Francisco Franco. After Franco’s death, Galicia again petitioned for autonomy, and became an autonomous community in 1985. The capital is Santiago de Compostela, which is also an UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

For more information on the history of Galicia, take a look at the following links:

For Galicia news, check out the regional newspaper La Voz de Galicia.

CULTURE

Although Galician people do identify as Spanish, they associate themselves more with Celtic culture and traditions than with the typical images of Spanish culture that you may have seen, such as flamenco dancing and bullfighting. Fortified village settlements left from the pre-Roman Celtic era known as castros can be seen at various sites throughout Galicia. There is even one preserved right in the center of Vigo! As you discover Galicia, you can feel the history upon which it was built, but the Celtic influence doesn’t end there. Once present throughout Europe, bagpipes have survived only in certain regions, and they’ve hung on fiercely in Galicia. The Galician bagpipe, or gaita, is much smaller than the Scottish bagpipe. It’s played, alongside tambourines, clarinets, accordions, and drums in concerts called foliadas, where singing and especially dancing are required activities (give Galician dances like the muiñeira and the xota galega a try, but be forewarned: they are harder than they look!).

Traditional Galician music has also influenced contemporary musicians. Music, TV and film are wonderful ways to get to know Galicia before you arrive. Most recently, the Galician folk trio Tanxugueiras surged into the national spotlight in 2022 to potentially represent Spain in Eurovision. They ultimately lost the spot to another Spanish musician, but their music remains notable as it mixes traditional Galician music with pop and world music. There are several Galician rock Spotify playlists, and a previous mentor recommends Baiuca (a DJ) if you’re into electronic music. A 2019-2020 grantee also made a Fulbright-inspired Spotify playlist that’s a mix of languages, and another playlist of only Galician-language songs and podcasts. To get listening to Galician right away, a 2020-2021 grantee highly recommends the ‘Amigxs de protocolo’ Spotify playlist, which is updated every Monday. If you are a movie fan, you are in the right place! Since the early 1900s, Galicia has a long tradition of CINEMA GALEGO, and you’ll find that many Galician cities host both small and large-scale film festivals. This 2021 Guardian article gives an awesome overview of the Galician presence in modern television. If you’re looking for a series to start: check out ‘El desorden que dejas’ or ‘Fariña’ (called Cocaine Coast on US Netflix). For more music and podcast recommendations, check the section on Galician language at the bottom of the page!

Religion is a big part of Galician tradition, with its fiestas being celebrated according to the patron saint of the town or city. Santiago de Compostela is one of the largest pilgrimage sites in Roman Catholicism, and you will find the crest of Saint James and its scallop symbol all over the region. You will also find stone crosses dating back to the 14th century, or cruceiros, throughout the region. These crosses were erected near churches, cemeteries, or at old crossroads to ask forgiveness for sins and to guarantee safe travels.

Galicians are proud of their long-lasting cultural heritage and language. Galicia is home to some of Spain’s oldest surviving written works, from the 13th Century. It also has some of the oldest songs, written by Codax in the year 400, as well as poetry, with poems written by King Alfonso X dedicated to the Virgin Mary around the same time as Codax. There was also a strong literary movement in the 20th century–Alfonso Castelao and Rosalía de Castro are two notable authors from this period. You will find Galician artisanal work in many markets and fairs, including ceramics, silver, gold, fine porcelain, lace, wood, and azabache, which is a hard black form of coal.

Agriculture and fishing are also huge parts of Galician culture, as it is situated on the coast but also has wide stretches of green land ready to cultivate. This is reflected in many fishing boats that line the docks of coastal cities and the hórreos that are used to house grain and corn and can be seen throughout the countryside and often at private residences. Furthermore, in the spring, Galician people start opening up their homes and establishments as furanchos to celebrate the end of the winter with its (traditional) reliance on stores from the previous harvest. They serve the surplus wine out of small bowls called cuncas and enjoy themselves with dancing and music.

Galician fiestas mix traditions from the region’s religious, celtic, and pagan history. Carnaval, for example, was forbidden by the Catholic Church in the past and today is widely celebrated in many Galician cities. Some noteworthy cities that attract thousands of tourists for their Carnaval celebrations (called Entroido in Galicia) are Laza, Verín, and Xinzo de Limia. The bonfires of Saint John, in A Coruña, mix Celtic with religious tradition, as people gather during the summer solstice to watch the bonfires on the beach, which traditionally were lit to scare the witches away. While in Galicia, you may also hear of the making of a queimada. Queimada is an alcoholic drink, and to make it, one must combine a variety of ingredients (coffee, orujo, coffee beans, citrus rinds, and sometimes other ingredients), light it on fire, and recite a spell, or conxuro, so that the drink’s special powers can transfer to those who consume it. (Even if you don’t drink, seeing a queimada made on the beach is something you should experience!) Many cities in Galicia will also have medieval markets and celebrations, where citizens dress up in their best medieval-style costumes, and reenact historical myths, dances, music, and put up stands with various artisanal and gastronomic products. 

Galicia has a reputation for quality cuisine and indeed, Galician restaurants offering regional specialties can be found throughout Spain (and the world!). Galicians are very proud of their food and will often ask you not whether you like it, but exactly how much you love it (the more nice things you find to say about it, the better you’ll probably get along!). Galicia is known for its excellent seafood, especially its quality, with very fresh products fished that very same morning from the ocean! Other delicacies include pulpo, Zamburiñas, caldo gallego, zorza, raxo, croquetas, and roasted chestnuts. Locals say that every single weekend during the spring, summer, and fall, there is at least one gastronomical festival happening somewhere in Galicia. For more information about Galician cuisine and some of those festivals, be sure to check out the Galicia Ocio Guide!

GALICIAN LANGUAGe

Galician is a Romance language, and unlike the historical languages of the six Celtic nations, descended, like all Romance languages, from Vulgar Latin. As such, Galician is not descended from Castilian Spanish at all and is more of a sister language than a daughter language. Still, many people will insist that the two languages are mutually intelligible, and that, if your Spanish is good, you can understand Galician. However, in past Fulbrighters’ experience, the language is difficult to pick up by ear, especially the quick and colloquial way it is spoken in the street, among ordinary people. On the other hand, in institutional settings, like universities, government, and media broadcasts, the diction and pronunciation are closer to Castilian, so this Galician (Gallego in Spanish and Galego in Galician) is easier to understand if you have a high level of Spanish, and once you get used to seeing it you will learn to read Galician fairly quickly. The closest relative to Galician is Portuguese, so if you speak Portuguese, you are in luck! In the Middle Ages, Galicia and Portugal shared a written language, called Galician-Portuguese. The languages began to diverge with the independence of the Kingdom of Portugal, and Galicia found itself dominated by Castille, and Galician drew much closer to Castilian as a result.

However, any effort to try to pick up some Galician will be greatly appreciated by locals and will come a long way! Even learning some greetings and basic phrases alone will show that you care!  In the words of two 2017-2018 grantees:

 “I realized how important and proud the people here are of their culture and language. And they should be! So I think just respecting that importance is really something we have to do as visitors (and later inhabitants) in this city”

“If you live in Santiago or work in a pueblo, take advantage of the opportunity to learn Gallego. I didn’t realize this at first, but we are extra lucky to have the exposure, as it’s most commonly spoken here.” 

A 2021-2022 grantee also stated, “If you mention you want to learn Gallego, so many people will offer to help. My BC provided me with a list of places I could learn Gallego in [my host city] once I mentioned it. Also, other colleagues offered to help me practice over coffee during recreo.”

If you’re interested in learning Galician, the important part is to just go for it, even if it might be intimidating at first.

For centuries, Galician remained the spoken lingua franca, even if it was rarely written, while Castilian was the official language of education, government, and religion. There was a strong divide in use of Galician between social classes and between rural and urban populations. Things began to change in the nineteenth century, when the poet Rosalía de Castro led the Galician rexurdimento, or revival, inaugurating a new era of Galician literary achievement. Her two collections in Galician, Cantares Galegos and Follas Novas, remain touchstones of Galician culture. Nowadays, over three quarters of Galician people (that’s over two million!) presently use galego/gallego in their everyday lives. The majority of the Galician-speaking population is bilingual and will have no problem switching to Spanish to speak to you. It should be noted that the degree to which you hear Gallego spoken on the street depends on your placement city. It is spoken very little in A Coruña – really only among the older generation – whereas one is more likely to hear Gallego spoken in Santiago, Ourense, or even Vigo (despite its being an industrial city, there seems to be a grassroots movement of youth poetry, music, and art in Gallego) and, of course, in pueblos.

Regardless of if you’re learning Galician or not, there will probably be times where someone is speaking Galician and you can’t understand. In these situations, it’s always okay to ask them to switch to Spanish, but it’s important to do so in a way that respects the culture and history of speaking Galician. From a 2019-2020 grantee: “If you need someone to switch from Galician to Spanish, try to say ‘No sé gallego,’ instead of ‘No hablo gallego.’ Saying you don’t know it shows an openness to learning, while saying you don’t speak it can come off as a refusal to learn.” Additionally, this is something to keep in mind during the housing search! It is worth asking your potential roommates if they often speak to one another in “Galego o Castellano”. If you are confident with your current Spanish level, this is a wonderful way to naturally expose yourself to more Galego; however, if you are still improving your Spanish, it might be overwhelming if your roommates predominantly speak Galician around the house.

If you do decide to learn some Galician, be aware that there is much variety in the ways that the language is spoken and written. You may find that some Galician-speakers use a more castilianized variety of the language, while others use a variety closer to the original Galician-Portugese. Each person’s reason for speaking Galician is different, but many Galician speakers are willing or even eager to engage in conversation about Galician language as long as you remain respectful and recognize that for many people it is strongly tied to heritage and identity.

If you’d like to get a head start on your Galician language journey, check out these modules from La Voz de Galicia, or for a more basic introduction check out this website designed by the Xunta. Also be sure to look on your city’s page for resources that pertain specifically to your city!

Tips for learning Gallego from the 24-25 Mentor:

Ola! 

 
A few of you have asked me about resources for learning Galician (or at least trying!) and I am excited to share them with you:
  • Gaio – this is a basic translator app sponsored by the Xunta (the regional government of Galicia)
  • Xunta Online Self-Guided Galego Courses – what it sounds like! these courses are prepared to help study for specific galego certification exams and are available at various levels
  • EOI – these are official language schools which typically offer Galician courses (you can use 250E of your side project allowance to help pay course fees). Scroll down to the “Galicia” section of the document and you’ll find the areas that offer classes as well as a link that leads to registration pages. 
  • Concello de Santiago de Compostela – I took free Galician classes in Santiago here last year! Other cities might have a similar organization.  
  • Your coworkers! – my coworkers were an amazing resource in my Galego-learning experience! Most are very excited when auxiliares show interest in Galician language! 

MORE RESOURCES AND GRANTEE LINKS:

TIPS ON LEARNING GALLEGO FROM THE 24-25 MENTOR:

Ola! A few of you have asked me about resources for learning Galician (or at least trying!) and I am excited to share them with you:

  • Gaio – this is a basic translator app sponsored by the Xunta (the regional government of Galicia)
  • Xunta Online Self-Guided Galego Courses – what it sounds like! these courses are prepared to help study for specific galego certification exams and are available at various levels
  • EOI – these are official language schools which typically offer Galician courses (you can use 250E of your side project allowance to help pay course fees). Scroll down to the “Galicia” section of the document and you’ll find the areas that offer classes as well as a link that leads to registration pages.
  • Concello de Santiago de Compostela – I took free Galician classes in Santiago here last year! Other cities might have a similar organization.
  • Your coworkers! – my coworkers were an amazing resource in my Galego-learning experience! Most are very excited when auxiliares show interest in Galician language!