Michel – BeautifulGalicia

Heating a rural Galician home

Michel — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 20:43:32 +0000

When we moved to a village in the Ribeira Sacra, one of the first things we had to figure out was how the house would be heated. There is no central heating system here, and that turned out not to be unusual at all. Most rural homes in this part of Galicia rely on a wood stove, often combined with air conditioning units for the rooms the stove doesn’t reach. Coming from the Netherlands…

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Monte Faro: History, Views & the 2026 Eclipse

Michel — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 12:25:58 +0000

Monte Faro stands on the border between the provinces of Lugo and Pontevedra, between the municipalities of Chantada and Rodeiro, and at over 1,180 metres it is one of the highest points of the Dorsal Gallega, the mountain spine running through inland Galicia. The mountain takes its name from the watch fires once lit here to warn the surrounding area of approaching danger, a role that goes back to…

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Why We Chose the Ribeira Sacra

Michel — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:54:07 +0000

When we started looking at Galicia, we looked at all of it. We compared houses, prices, climate, all the usual things. To us, the whole region is beautiful, but there are small differences between the areas, and a lot of that comes down to what is actually nearby. Where the bigger towns are, where the services are, that kind of thing. We left the Netherlands after yet another stretch of grey…

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What Nobody Tells You About Galician Bureaucracy (As a Foreigner)

Michel — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 20:04:39 +0000

What Nobody Tells You About Galician Bureaucracy (As a Foreigner) Before we moved to rural Galicia, we’d read the warnings. Spanish bureaucracy is slow. Bring patience. Bring photocopies. Bring more patience. We thought we were prepared. We were prepared for the wrong thing. If you ask any relocation guide which step trips people up, they’ll point you to the NIE, the visa…

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Galician Shop Hours and Public Holidays: What Caught Us Off Guard

Michel — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:02:02 +0000

We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve walked up to a shop, pharmacy, or office in Galicia only to find the shutters down. Not because it was a Sunday. Not because it was siesta time. But because it was a public holiday we had no idea existed. After enough closed doors, we finally did the obvious thing: we put every Galician public holiday into our calendar, a year ahead. If you’re new here…

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Internet in Galicia: Costs, Coverage and Why We Chose ours

Michel — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 20:37:35 +0000

One of the questions we are asked most often by people considering a move to Galicia is surprisingly simple: “What is the internet like?” Many people still imagine rural Galicia as a remote corner of Spain where reliable internet connections are difficult to find. While that may have been true in some areas years ago, the situation has changed dramatically. Today, fibre-optic internet is…

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contact us

Michel — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 08:52:48 +0000

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How We Bought Our House in Galicia, Spain

Michel — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 21:10:29 +0000

Buying a house abroad is one of the biggest decisions you can make. When we first started thinking about emigrating from Northern Europe, Galicia was not even on our radar. We were convinced that Portugal would become our new home. However, after months of research, several scouting trips, and countless hours browsing property websites, we eventually found ourselves buying a beautiful house in…

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About us

Michel — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 14:43:03 +0000

We’re a Dutch couple, and since early 2026 we live in rural Galicia, in the north-west corner of Spain. BeautifulGalicia is where we write about what we find here — the practical side of moving here, the daily life, the outdoors, the things that aren’t always easy to find in English. We’ve only been here a few months. We’re not experts on Galicia, and we won’t pretend to be.

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F.a.q

Michel — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 13:40:16 +0000

BeautifulGalicia.com is an independent travel and tourism website dedicated to showcasing the beauty, culture, nature, gastronomy, and attractions of Galicia, Spain. Our goal is to help visitors discover the best places to visit and make the most of their trip. Galicia is an autonomous region located in the northwest of Spain. It is famous for its stunning coastline, green landscapes…

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