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Ferrol
«Ferrol tiene una gran tradición de construcción naval militar.»Ferrol has a great tradition of military shipbuilding.
Ferrol is located at the end of a long, narrow estuary on the north coast of Galicia, which is easy to defend and was therefore chosen as a fleet base. In the eighteenth century, the arsenal was built there, along with a planned neighbourhood, one of the first examples of Enlightenment urban planning in Spain.
Did you know
Franco was born here.
Ferrol was the birthplace of Francisco Franco in 1892, which is why the city was officially called Ferrol del Caudillo during the dictatorship.
How they talk in Ferrol
«Ferrolán» is the demonym and «arsenal» is a word that still describes a real working presence. Galician and Castilian coexist, with a strong vocabulary linked to the navy and shipbuilding.
morriña
Melancholic nostalgia, particularly for one's own land. Used to describe the feeling of distance and melancholy towards the land of origin or, more generally, a nostalgic state.
Everyday life in Ferrol
The sirens of the «astillero»
The city grew around the arsenals, and the shift sirens still mark the days: when there is a launch, half the city goes to see it from the shore.
«Cuando suena la sirena, cambia el turno.» — When the siren sounds, the shift changes.
The chessboard-style «A Magdalena» neighbourhood
The eighteenth-century Enlightenment centre is a perfect grid, designed together with the arsenal: the streets are all parallel, and you orient yourself by counting the intersections.
The «ría» as narrow as a door
To enter the port, ships pass through a very narrow channel between two castles: you can see them passing from the shore, enormous, just a few dozen metres from the houses.
What to eat in Ferrol
Pulpo a la gallega
Octopus boiled and cut with scissors, with oil, coarse salt and paprika, on a wooden plate.
Tortilla de Betanzos
Potato omelette that is undercooked, remaining liquid inside and eaten with a spoon.
Caldo gallego
Thick soup of turnip greens, potatoes, beans and lard.
Festivals in Ferrol
Semana Santa de Ferrol
during Holy Week
The brotherhoods march with the pace of the navy, and the processions cross the eighteenth-century Magdalena neighbourhood.
What to see in Ferrol
Barrio de la Magdalena
A neighbourhood designed in 1761 with a set square: six straight streets, all the same, for the workers of the arsenal.
Arsenal y Puerta del Dique
The eighteenth-century military arsenal, with the piers and dry docks carved into the rock.
Castillo de San Felipe
The fort at the mouth of the ría, from which a chain was stretched to the opposite bank.
Playa de Doniños
The long beach open to the ocean, outside the ría, with the dunes and the lagoon behind.
Where Ferrol comes from
A city designed from scratch for the navy
Middle Ages
The village
A small port at the end of a long and narrow ría, easy to defend.
1726
The arsenal
The crown chooses Ferrol as the base for the northern fleet: the arsenal is built.
1761
La Magdalena
The new chessboard-style neighbourhood is laid out: one of the first examples of Enlightenment urban planning in Spain.
20th century → today
The shipyards
The shipyards remain the heart of the city's economy.
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