Vilagarcía de Arousa (, ) is a municipality in the province of

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

, in Galicia,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. As of 2014 it has a population of 37,712, being ninth largest town in Galicia.

History

The present site of Vilagarcía has been occupied since prehistoric times.

Petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

depicting circular or

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

shapes can be found in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Bamio and can be dated to B.C.E. The castros of Alobre, Carril, Agudín and Lobeira, in addition to archaeological findings such as

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

coins, seem to indicate a continuous settlement in the area.Turism Information of Vilagarcía de Arousa
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Geography

Location

Vilagarcía de Arousa is located in the region (comarca) of

O Salnés O Salnés is a ''Comarcas of Galicia, comarca'' in the Galicia (Spain), Galician Pontevedra (province), Province of Pontevedra. It covers an area of 275.2 km2, and had an overall population of 114,600 at the 2011 Census; the latest official estimat ...

at the southernmost part of the ría de Arousa, Ría de Arousa forming a big sea inlet (

ría A ria (; , feminine noun derived from ''río'', river) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic ...

). It borders to the North with Catoira, to the East with Caldas de Reis and to South with Vilanova de Arousa. It is located 45 km South of

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

Subdivisions

As it is traditional in Galicia, the city is subdivided in a number of parroquias, namely: # Arealonga (Santa Eulalia de Afora); # Bamio (San Xinés); # Carril (Santiago); # Cea (San Pedro); # Cornazo (San Pedro); # Fontecarmoa (San Pedro); # Rubiáns (Santa María); # Sobradelo (San Salvador); # Sobrán (San Martín de Afora); # Solobeira (San Félix); # Vilagarcía (Santa Eulalia e A Nosa Señora de la Junquera); # Carril (Santiago de Afuera).

Port

The port of Vilagarcía de Arousa, with its 566,874 square meters approximately, is one of the most important components of the economy of this municipality and the region. Although its activity dates back to the mid-nineteenth century, its origin is to be found in Carril, thanks to its intense trade relations "forced not only companies to have commercial representation in the estuary, but also their governments were forced to open diplomatic offices in Carril. The then booming town first and then Vilagarcía had consulates of Great Britain, Portugal, Germany, France, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic". Nowadays it is a significant point of export and import of goods, fishing and leisure activities.

Festivals

* Festivals of Santa Rita. * Festival of the San Roque. * Festival of the ''Ameixa'' of Carril.

San Roque and the ''Festa da auga''

The Patron Saint festival of Vilagarcía de Arousa takes place during 10 days around 16 August, the day of

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79; traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327), also called Rock in English, was a Majorcan Catholic confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he was especially invo ...

(San Roque). On that day two celebrations take place consecutively. The first one, of religious nature, starts with a mass and the procession of the image of the saint from the parish church (Iglesia de Santa Eulalia) to St. Roch's Chapel. Thousands of people accompany the image during its way, which is carried out moving to the beat of the ''Triunfo''

paso doble Pasodoble (Spanish language, Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This often wa ...

. Subsequently, the second celebration takes place, what is called ''Festa da Auga'' ("''the water festival"''). Thousands of people from all ages go through the streets shouting for water (''"¡agua!"''). The neighbors respond to their prayers by throwing water from the windows with buckets, hoses, etc. The goal is to get everybody wet. In addition, the city firefighters cooperate by drenching the participants from the firetrucks. The celebration does not end until the beginning of the evening. A certain area, comprising the main streets of the city, is designated as ''"the wet area"'', where getting wet is well received. Usually between 20,000 and 30,000 people take part in the ''Water festival''.

Notable people

* Dani Abalo, footballer * Laura Alonso, operatic soprano * Manuel Bernárdez, Uruguayan diplomat and writer * Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro, tennis player * Gustavo César, cyclist * Luis César Sampedro, footballer * Pablo Coira, footballer * José Fontán, footballer * Manuel Jiménez Abalo, footballer * Antón Paz, sailor, winner of a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the Mixed

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

class *

Pepe Rubianes José Rubianes Alegret, better known as Pepe Rubianes (2 September 1947 – 1 March 2009) was a Galician actor and theater director, born in Galicia and brought up in Catalonia, specializing in mime, imitation and monologues. He was known for his ...

, actor * Mari Paz Vilas, footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Vilagarcía de Arousa is twinned with: *

Matosinhos Matosinhos () is a City#Portugal, city and a Concelho, municipality in the district of Porto District, Porto in Portugal. The municipality covers an area of approximately and had 172,557 inhabitants in 2021. It is bordered by the municipalities o ...

, Portugal

References

External links

Official Vilagarcía de Arousa website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilagarcia De Arousa Municipalities in the Province of Pontevedra Populated coastal places in Spain