Ria de Pontevedra & Combarro N42 26 W8 42
Gryphon II
Chris and Lorraine Marchant
Tue 11 Aug 2009 11:19
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Ria de Pontevedra
Arriving at the Ria after swimming at Isla Ons, we
thought we had spotted an attractive beach , but on arrival we were confronted
by tourist town. The contrast between the 2 beaches was stark...the old and the
new. I expect the old girls at Muros would have been happy enough to swap places
with the modern way of life but we can't help feeling that something has been
lost.
  The following morning we didn't bother going ashore having
decided to go to the nearby Sanxenxo marina. However, on entry we were
turned away and were told it was full, which seemed surprising as there were
yards of vacant pontoons, this confirmed our feelings about this part
of Galicia. We decided to go up the ria to the interesting old fishing
village of Combarro, despite warnings from the pilot book that security could be
a problem. Our luck was in, there was a brand new marina ideal for 2 days of
washing, shopping and cleaning! The village turned out to be very quaint and extremely
well preserved...if only the Spanish did a bit more in there ordinary towns.
Much of Combarro is built straight onto
the bed rock, steps and drainage channels are carved out, old cart tracks are
carved into the rock roadways.
    Fishing and especially mussel cultivation remains big
business here as elsewhere.
There were 5 or 6 barges coming in each morning piled high
with mussels ready to unload.
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