Marine Tourism

Vigo is an essential destination for marine tourism routes in Spain. Vigo's relationship with the sea is so deep that we could say the city wouldn’t exist without it. Because it was the sea that led the first inhabitants of the city to settle there, and the sea was how the Romans provided Vicus (place, in Latin) with a flourishing industry; visit the Toralla Roman Villa and Salinae, two interesting archaeological sites where you’ll discover the remains of Vigo’s seafaring history.

However, it was in the Middle Ages when fishing in Vigo became one of its main livelihoods.

During the reign of Philip II, Vigo was already the most important fishing port in northern Spain. After the Napoleonic invasion, it gained city status for being the first Spanish town to rise up against the French, hence the La Reconquista festivities. This was the final takeoff for the port of Vigo, today Europe's leading fresh fish port. Vigo’s sailors take to the furthest seas, where they spend months in Spain’s biggest fishing trawlers.

As well as for high seas fishing, the Vigo estuary has one of the most important inshore fleets in Galicia, and the auction in the Vigo fish market, at dawn, is a striking spectacle.