Enjoy the History that is Coruna

by Stephen Morgan
With regards to the tourist industry within Spain, Northern Spain and in particular Galicia especially have been very much a hidden treasure and hidden within lies a further particular treasure called Coruna. Of all of the autonomous regions of Spain Galicia is considered the most remote and therein lies the charm of Coruna hidden away longing to be discovered. Galicia has always been seen as a poor rural region, whose economy was dependent upon agriculture and fishing and did not lend itself to modernisation and yet as far as tourism is concerned it is this constant contact with the past that gives the region its appeal and charm. The Galicians are fiercely proud of their culture and language and their Celtic heritage; it is what makes them unique (they feel) within modern day Spain. Galicia always seemed to be a very closed and inward looking area being fiercely resistant to any formal external invasion and in many ways this degree of isolation was very much driven by the geographical location of the region. In what has been a mountain to climb slowly but surely Galicia is now trying to manage successfully the twin track of its regional lifestyle with a much more modern society and thankfully this appears to have had very positive results with regards to tourism with little sign of negative effects..

Corona is the oldest town in Galicia. It is even mentioned in Irish Celtic folklore as the destination of the Celtic hero Breogan who apparently travelled to the Iberian Peninsula, landed and where he landed built a tower.

There is a large tower outside Coruna, but this particular town is a famous lighthouse and is called the Torres de Hercules and dates back from Roman times. The tower is the world's oldest working lighthouse and has been the subject of a recent renovation project which has restored the lighthouse to almost its original splendour. The tower was originally built during the period of the Roman Emperor Trajan but legend attributes the construction to Hercules which as has been proven is not quite true but is a splendid tale nonetheless.

Coruna is also the birthplace to a local heroine of Galician folklore (in this case a story more substantiated) Maria Pitt who it is alleged became a heroine overnight when she was the focal point and leader of the Galician Resistance to the English sailor (and in this case probably privateer) Sir Francis Drake when he raided Coruna in 1589.

Coruna has been one of the most important ports within the whole country of Spain for centuries and is one of the centres for the Spanish fishing fleet that travels as far away as fishing grounds off the coasts of Iceland and Canada. Fishing is immensely important to the Spanish who actually probably consume more seafood than any other European country with the exception of Portugal.

The Galician fishing fleet which has been mentioned is centred in Coruna and Vigo supplies near the half of the fish and shellfish caught and consumed in Spain. The industry employs as a nation over 61,000 fishermen and over 16,000 boats with as has been said more than 50 percent of the fleet based in Galicia so you can see that Fishing is immensely important to the local economy.

There is more to Coruna, in fact a whole lot more than just fishing and the delights of Coruna are in fact many and varied.
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