Things to see and do in Galicia: ten destinations for film-lovers

Endless routine, rain, lockdown... There are many reasons why we might be spending more time at home this time of year. Winter is Netflix and blanket season (or Amazon Prime, HBO, Disney...)! Even so, we still yearn to travel and discover the most beautiful corners of the region. There are dozens of films shot in Galicia that allow you to see the region from the comfort of your own sofa. Or, if you prefer, you can grab your coat, get out of the house and visit one of these ten film destinations.

A esmorga through the streets of Ourense

Just because the carnival is over doesn’t mean that the party stops. At least not for the characters in A Esmorga, a film based on the novel of the same name by Eduardo Blanco Amor. The story sees actors Miguel de Lira, Karra Elejalde and Antonio Durán, Morris, live a series of adventures and misadventures on a night out on the streets of Ourense. In fact, most of the film was shot in Ourense, which in the film and novel goes by the fictional name of Auria.

The book and film have become so famous that there is even a walking tour of the filming locations. Gardens such as O Possío, parks such as La Alameda, squares such as O Correxidor, buildings such as the cathedral, and emblematic landmarks such as As Burgas are just some of the corners of Ourense that can be seen on the screen.

But the capital is not the only town in the wider province of Ourense that appears in the movie. Ribadavia, O Carballiño and Pazos de Arenteiro, in Boborás, were also among the locations. In the province of Lugo, locations were chosen such as the Pazo of Tor, in Monforte de Lemos, where both indoor and outdoor scenes were filmed, as well as Ferreira de Pantón, Escairón and O Saviñao.

Touring the province of Ourense with Cuñados

Ourense can lay claim to being the film set of Galicia. Numerous films, series, documentaries and even video clips are set in and around the streets and surroundings of its towns, cities and villages. One of the latest to join the long list of films shot in the province was Cuñados. This comedy was released in 2021 and is set in the world of wine cellars. And what better backdrop than the stunning landscapes of O Ribeiro! Allariz, San Cibrao das Viñas and the capital itself were also some of the locations where the actors Xosé A. Touriñán, Miguel de Lira and Fede Pérez, among others, filmed their scenes.

Celanova with Elisa y Marcela

Award-winning director Isabel Coixet also found the inland province of Galicia to be the ideal place to film Elisa y Marcela. A Netflix production that tells the story of the first marriage between two women in Spain. It took place in A Coruña in 1901, where, in order to get married, one of them had to pass herself off as a man. A story about love and the fight for LGTBI rights that found its perfect setting in Ourense.

Although most of the story between Elisa and Marcela actually took place in A Coruña, much of the film was shot in Ourense. For example, the teachers’ school where the protagonists fall in love is in fact the monastery of San Salvador, one of the jewels of Celanova’s rich heritage. Other locations in the province that appear on the screen include Pazos de Arenteiro and Moldes, in Boborás.

And if, after watching the film, you feel like visiting the places where the real story took place, why not treat yourself to a guided tour of the city of A Coruña! The church of San Jorge, where they got married, or calle San Andrés, where the Corcubión guesthouse where they spent their wedding night was located, are some of the stops on the route.

Allariz en Butterfly (La lengua de las mariposas)

If we had to name one director who was in love with Ourense, we would say José Luis Cuerda. Despite being a native of Castile-La Mancha, the filmmaker felt a close affinity with Galicia and, in particular, to its inland province of Ourense. Little surprise then that Galicia served as the setting for more than one of his films. This is indeed the case with Butterfly (La lengua de las mariposas), The Blind Sunflowers (Los girasoles ciegos) and All Is Silence (Todo es silencio).

The director’s first big commitment to the region took place in 1998, when he filmed Butterfly (La lengua de las mariposas). A film based on the story Que me queres, amor? by Manuel Rivas, it portrays the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the dictatorship through the eyes of a boy from a Galician village, who sees how his teacher is repressed by the regime.

The streets of the historic town centre of Allariz were used to recreate the rural Galicia of 1936. But not everything remained in the picturesque town. Some of the scenes were filmed in other parts of the province of Ourense and in the city of Pontevedra. In fact, the last scene is set in Plaza da Leña and calle Figueroa.

El Ares, at the hands of Almodóvar

Another big name from the world of cinema who chose Galicia as their set is Pedro Almodóvar. The director filmed some the scenes of Julieta in the municipalities of Ares and Mugardos. The film tells the story of a woman who, after hearing from her daughter, whom she has not seen for years, decides to write her story for her daughter, starting from the day she met her father. This starting point is the seafaring Galicia of the 1980s, where her father worked as a fisherman. To create the right setting, the Spanish director chose several locations in the Rías Altas.

Mugardos harbour or the Puerta del Sol in Ares were some of the locations chosen by Almodóvar. But if there is one place that stands out, it is the parish of Redes. Its O Pedregal square, its narrow streets and its Indian-style buildings enchanted the director. And there must be something truly special about this small enclave of brightly coloured houses that serve as the backdrop for the Ares estuary, as the presence of cameras and spotlights has become an almost daily occurrence.

The Sea Inside (Mar Adentro) in Muros e Noia and Arousa

Speaking of places that are often used as movie sets, we would be remiss not to mention the beach of As Furnas. Located between the estuaries of Muros e Noia and Arousa, it is one of the key settings in The Sea Inside (Mar Adentro), the film that earned Alejandro Amenábar an Oscar, a Golden Globe and 14 Goyas and thrust him into the limelight. The director wanted to capture the story of Ramón Sampedro, the first person to request euthanasia in Spain, in the places where the real events unfolded. And it was on the cliffs of the Porto do Son beach where the protagonist suffered the accident that left him quadriplegic.

Ramón Sampedro was a native of Xuño, a parish in Porto do Son, where some of the scenes were filmed. In fact, the villages of Abelendo and O Castelo were used to film the outside of his house. The crossroads of Pedrafurada, the lagoons of San Pedro de Muro, Portosín and the beach of Seiras were some of the locations chosen by Amenábar and which today form part of a route running through Porto do Son that made it to Hollywood back in 2004.

The filming of The Sea Inside was much like winning the lottery as it benefitted the whole area lying between the two estuaries. For example, the images of the food market were filmed in Noia, while in Ribeira scenes were filmed in the port of Insuela and at the Dunas de Corrubedo sand dunes. The mountain of A Curota in A Pobra or the town centre of Boiro were other locations selected in and around the Arousa estuary.

Arousa and A Coruña in Eye for an Eye (Quien a hierro mata)

While the beach of As Furnas first rose to fame with the story of Ramón Sampedro, it became known to the younger generations with Fariña, a series focused on the origins of drug trafficking in Galicia. And the same theme serves as the backdrop in Eye for an Eye, a film by Paco Plaza that tells the story of a retired drug dealer who, following his release from prison, befriends a nurse who looks after him in a care home. Meanwhile, his sons bite off more than they can chew as they take over the family clan and try to bring the old capo back into the fray.

The Arousa estuary, the home of great drug trafficking clans such as Los Charlines and Sito Miñanco, was one of the chosen settings for the film, as was the port of O Carbodeiro in A Illa, a seafood treatment plant in Cambados and the beach of As Sinas in Vilanova. However, while the plot takes place in the Rías Baixas, most of the scenes were filmed in the city of A Coruña. The exteriors of the arms factory, the Calvo Sotelo Institute and the San Amaro cemetery are just some examples.

Mondays in the Sun (Los lunes al sol) in Vigo

While the Arousa estuary is shadowed by the stigma of drug trafficking, the Vigo estuary has long been associated with the industrial reconversion. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, it was chosen as the setting for Mondays in the Sun, a film about the plight of workers affected by factory lay-offs at the end of the 20th century. Although the name of the city is not explicitly mentioned in the film and the plot could easily have happened to pretty much any worker in any industrial town, the exterior locations were shot in and around Vigo.

The first example of this can be found in the poster for the film. Javier Bardem and Luis Tosar sitting in the sun on the boat that connects the city with Cangas. The Cíes Islands, the skyline, the shipyards and the neighbourhoods of Teis, Coia and O Berbés joined the list of locations. But to make a complete tour of the shoot locations you will also need to head to Pontevedra and more precisely, to the Pasarón stadium, where the football match was filmed.

Fire Will Come (O que arde) in Os Ancares

While the most dramatic stories of coastal Galicia have to do with the sea, drug trafficking or the industrial crisis, one of the tales from inland Galicia stars a natural element caused by human hand: fire. Forest fires capable of ravaging huge swathes of the landscape were the theme chosen by Oliver Laxe for Fire Will Come (O que arde), the film that catapulted him to the Goya Awards. The director focused on the mountains of Lugo when telling the story of an arsonist who returns to his village after being released from prison.

Most of the locations are found within the county of Os Ancares, more precisely the municipalities of Cervantes, Becerreá and Navia de Suarna, where Laxe spent part of his childhood. Beyond the silver screen landscapes, going out in search of the places where the film was shot brings us closer to the rural world, its rhythms, its economic activities and its problems. Interestingly, the characters were played by local residents, including the protagonists, among whom Benedicta Sánchez, who won the Goya for best new actress at the age of 84, is particularly remarkable.

The Way of Saint James in the eyes of Martin Sheen

Now that we are in the throes of the Xacobeo Holy Year, how could we not mention the Way of St. James! It might not be a specific location or so extensive that visiting it requires an actual pilgrimage along the film routes, but there are numerous films — Galician, Spanish and foreign — that take place in this setting. Look no further than The Way, a film starring Martin Sheen and directed by his son Emilio Estévez, that helped to popularise The Way across the pond.

The film tells the story of a man who decides to make a pilgrimage with the ashes of his son, who died while on one of the stages of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. Almost all the scenes were filmed along different stretches of the French Way, in and around the cathedral of Santiago and in Muxía, the end of the Way. 

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