Is there anybody living in Galicia who has any advice? My friend who lives in England (and thinks I know about everywhere in spain,) is looking to buy a habitable property to reform but its difficult for me to help them look from here,  I’ve told them about this website so will leave it up to them now, thanks for any replies in advance,Art

I’ve been living in Coru?a for 10 years now, but more or less in the city. From an expat point of view, there aren’t that many here, well, in comparison to the med at least. In the cities, you’ll come across Brits, Irish and the like over time, I’d say here are more in Coru?a and Santiago than in Ferrol or Lugo.

On the whole Galician cities are a bit scruffy, I like La Coru?a, it’s a good sized city - 325,000 so has all the amenities but with the advantage of the beaches. Santiago is alot smaller and well kept in the centre, being the ‘capital’ of Galicia there are many expats there - lots of tourists for the pilgrimage aswell. Lugo has the roman walls in the centre but is a very sleepy city. Ferrol is a shipbuilding city that is going through hard times at the moment.

Out in the countryside there are expats and returnees (or the children of emigrants) but generally they are dispersed and buried deep into their local communities - there aren’t the Brit / German / Dutch communities like one sees on the Mediterranean coast. One area where it seems that the Brits seem to be investigating is Ribeira de Sacra, which is on the River Sil between Monforte de Lemos and Orense. It’s a wine growing region, beautiful, isolated and very depopulated. Depopulation is a problem especially in the provinces of Lugo and Orense, if you are looking for somewhere rural, chances are that your thre or four neighbours will all be pensioners.  The Coru?a7Lugo coastline has some marvellous beaches, cold in winter/spring though.

RiazorBlue - 16 March 2011 03:38 AM

I’ve been living in Coru?a for 10 years now, but more or less in the city. From an expat point of view, there aren’t that many here, well, in comparison to the med at least. In the cities, you’ll come across Brits, Irish and the like over time, I’d say here are more in Coru?a and Santiago than in Ferrol or Lugo.

On the whole Galician cities are a bit scruffy, I like La, it’s a good sized city - 325,000 so has all the amenities but with the advantage of the beaches. Santiago is alot smaller and well kept in the centre, being the ‘capital’ of Galicia there are many expats there - lots of tourists for the pilgrimage aswell. Lugo has the roman walls in the centre but is a very sleepy city. Ferrol is a shipbuilding city that is going through hard times at the moment.

Out in the countryside there are expats and returnees (or the children of emigrants) but generally they are dispersed and buried deep into their local communities - there aren’t the Brit / German / Dutch communities like one sees on the Mediterranean coast. One area where it seems that the Brits seem to be investigating is Ribeira de Sacra, which is on the River Sil between Monforte de Lemos and Orense. It’s a wine growing region, beautiful, isolated and very depopulated. Depopulation is a problem especially in the provinces of Lugo and Orense, if you are looking for somewhere rural, chances are that your thre or four neighbours will all be pensioners.  The Coru?a7Lugo coastline has some marvellous beaches, cold in winter/spring though.

Great analysis from Riazor. My family is from Galicia(from the Ourense region) and I agree completely with the probability of your neighbors being very old is very high, especially if you live on the outskirts of Ourense-city in the rural areas.

I am surprised Riazor you didn’t mention Vigo(my family owns an apartment there as well) which is a city that has grown incredibly over the past 3-4 years and is home to the most wonderful beach in the world Las Islas Cies. 😊  Jobs in Galicia, in general, are extremely hard to come by much more so then other regions of Spain that is for sure. I would not recommend Lugo at all as it is easy the most dull/boring city of all Galicia, it literally has nothing to offer in my honest opinion.

Ourense is great for the summer, but I would not recommend living there at all especially if you plan on working. Not a big fan of Santiago either. If I had a choice it’d definitely be between Vigo and A Coru?a for sure in terms of living choice.

The original past only asked about Lugo & Coru?a before. If we add the Province of Pontevedra, well, that’s entirely different. The Rias Baixas, from the Portugese border to Ria de Arousa have some wonderful beaches, the climate is better than Coru?a/Lugo, although, surprisingly, the sea is colder. Vigo is a city built around the Rias, with distinct barrios, the city beaches are great. Generally around Vigo there is more industry than in Coru?a, so perhaps more chances of a job. Pontevedra is a small, quiet city, I’ve not spent much time there so couldn’t comment too much. The Ria de Arousa has sone nice places: Vilagarcia, Sanxexo, Cambados are all reasonable sized towns, Sanxexo being more of a tourist centre - lots of second homes there. Vilagarcia is a town of 20,000 more or less, it’s got just about all one needs, nice beach. Cambados is a fishing villiage, famous for drug smuggling. Down south there is Baiona or Nigran, both beachy places, not too far away from Vigo. Cannot comment on the interior of Pontevedra, apart from it being more continental in climate - very hot summers/cold winters.

Hi there,

My husband and I both got jobs in Vigo at an international British school.
We are now in the process of looking around at places to rent, but have NO IDEA about the provinces/districts etc…

Can anyone recommend any good places where we should look? We will be at O Castro International school, so places near to that would be ideal. If we could live near the beach that would be great!

Any suggestions on areas will be a big help!

Thanks,
Tammy…