Village
Porto do Son is a town and municipality in the province of A Coruña, in the region of Noia, situated on the north-western slope of the Barbanza peninsula, of which it is the most extensive municipal area, with 94.58 km² spread across 146 population centres. Its main settlements are the town of Puerto del Son, the head of the municipality, and Portosín, whose name may derive from the Latin Portus Sinum, port of the bay, referring to the ria de Muros e Noia. The place name evolved from the historic Porto de Oçon to Porto do Son, a form that the 1983 law on linguistic normalisation restored after decades as Puerto del Son. A fishing municipality of around 9,000 inhabitants, dependent on Noia until 1812, it preserves on a rocky peninsula the Iron Age castro of Baroña.
Nature
The castro de Baroña stands on a rocky peninsula in the parish of Baroña, in Porto do Son (A Coruña), and was inhabited between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. It preserves about twenty circular or oval dwellings spread over four areas, with spaces interpreted as forges, a protected square and a staircase considered one of the best preserved among Galician castros. It was defended by a double wall and a moat four metres wide and three deep that crossed the access isthmus, together with an access tower with a ramp that prevented the passage of carts. Its inhabitants lived off shellfish gathering and fishing, with livestock and acorns, and remains of forging, stone carving and weaving have been found. Excavated in 1933, 1969-1970, 1980-1984, 1985 and since 2012, it was declared Ben de Interese Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 2011.
Nature
Beach located in the parish of Xuño, in the municipality of Porto do Son, dotted with granite boulders and saltwater rock pools; nearby are the lagoons of Xuño and Muro. On these rocks scenes from Mar adentro were filmed, Alejandro Amenábar's film that won the Oscar in 2005, and it was on these same rocks that Ramón Sampedro had his accident in 1968, whose story inspired the film.
Nature
A granite ridge forming the peninsula between the rías of Muros e Noia and Arousa, with the Iroite as its roof at 685 metres; its western slopes fall towards Porto do Son sown with burial mounds, hillforts and hill pasture.
Nature
Also called As Seiras, it is a stretch of sand about 1,200 metres long and 75 metres wide, open to the Atlantic and backed by a small dune system, in the parish of Santo Estevo de Queiruga, in the municipality of Porto do Son. It is a beach of average occupancy within the comarca of Noia.
Nature
Beach almost a kilometre long and about 28 metres wide, located in the parish of Xuño, at the place called A Coviña, into whose sand the Sieira river flows, from which it also takes its alternative name Boca do Río. It is an isolated stretch of sand, without a seafront promenade, made up mainly of rocks and fine white and golden sand; the river's mouth forms a lagoon system that also allows bathing in fresh water, calmer than that of the sea. Its line of dunes is included in the Natura 2000 Network and remains undeveloped; summer occupancy is average.
Nature
Basoñas beach, in the parish of San Pedro de Muro, in the municipality of Porto do Son, is an unspoilt stretch of sand about 2,100 metres long and barely 34 metres wide, cove-shaped with moderate swell; it is an extension of Areas Longas beach. It has a wetland area formed by the lagoons of Xuño and Muro, where a large number of birds nest. Fully exposed to the western sea, it is frequented mainly by surfers and walkers outside the season.
Nature
Peak of 538 metres in the parish of Noal, within the sierra de Barbanza, from whose viewpoint the coast can be made out from Cabo Fisterra to Ribeira; on its summit operates the Zonal Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre. On its slope lies the curro da Enxa, where a well-known rapa das bestas is held every July.
Activity
Equestrian facility located at the Chans de Raña, on Monte da Enxa (538 metres), in the parish of Baroña (Porto do Son, A Coruña), with a horse-racing circuit, three wooden curros and a recreation area. In this enclosure the rapa das bestas da Enxa is held in the first week of August, revived in 2010 after eight years without being held due to disagreements between local livestock farmers and the community of montes of Baroña, owner of the enclosure. The rapa brings together more than a hundred horses from the nearby leiras, which the aloitadores bring down from the mountain to cut their manes by hand; in the afternoon races are also held on the circuit adjoining the curros.
Monument
A municipal facility that puts into context the excavation campaigns at the hillfort, begun in 1933 with Sebastián González-García and continued by Luengo and by Calo Lourido and Soeiro between 1969 and 1985.
Nature
A coastal lagoon separated from the sea by the sands of Xuño and part of the Corrubedo wetland complex, protected by the Natura Network; its rushes and reedbeds shelter wintering ducks and amphibians.
Historical milestone
The present-day concello did not separate from Noia until 1812. During the 19th century the Catalan fomentadores arrived, entrepreneurs who introduced new fishing techniques and opened salting factories in the town, at Aguieira and Portosín, giving work to a large part of the municipality's population, though they also brought social problems. The business ceased to be profitable in the early 20th century and the factories closed one by one; Porto do Son was later a pioneer in the manufacture of oilskins, the waterproof garments used in fishing.
Curiosity
This was one of the first places in Galicia where oilskins were made, the waxed waterproofs worn by the seamen; the trade was born in the warmth of the villa's fishing industry.
Activity
Every 13 August the villa devotes its gastronomic festival to octopus á feira, boiled in a copper cauldron and served on a wooden plate with oil, coarse salt and paprika, accompanied by local bread and wine.
Activity
At the end of July the concello sets up a fair with a Celtic setting, with crafts, traditional music and re-enactments, taking advantage of the nearness of the castro of Baroña, the most visited site in the comarca.
Food and drink
A day exalting oily fish organised by the guild of San Andrés on the quay of Portosín: sardine, xurelo and xarda are tasted en masse on a Saturday in August, with visits to the boats and live cooking.
Nature
The río Sieira crosses a rocky step in the middle of the sierra of the Barbanza, upstream of the coast to which it descends to flow out beside the beach of As Furnas; its flow shoots up with the winter rains.
Monument
A coastal hermitage of the parish of San Vicente de Noal, also known as the chapel of Nosa Señora da Misericordia; it stands on the lookout point from which the entrance to the ría of Muros e Noia is scanned.
Nature
The beach of Cabeiro, in the parish of Noal, in the municipality of Porto do Son, is 1200 metres long and 25 metres wide. It is an unspoilt beach in the shape of a gentle inlet, open between Mount Cabeiro and the point of the same name, with a lighthouse and viewpoint overlooking the mouth of the ria of Muros e Noia.