Santiago de Compostela, Spain — Activities
Santiago de Compostela Culture
Cultural life in Santiago de Compostela is intimately tied up with the promotion of Galician identity. The university provides continuous input to local cultural life, with plays, film screenings and cultural events constantly taking place during term time. It is no surprise, therefore, that students make up the numbers at most of the Galician parades and cultural festivals.
Tickets to cultural events are available direct from the venue. Event listings can be found in the El Compostelán and Santiago 7 Días publications, available in bars and cafés and from the tourist office (website: www.santiagoturismo.com).
Music: The Auditorio de Galicia, Avenida do Burgo das Nacions (tel: (981) 552 290; website: www.auditoriodegalicia.org) is the major venue for musical performances in the city. It is also home to the Real Filharmonia de Galicia. Operas are staged from May (sometimes April) to June. There is also the Xornadas de Música en Compostela in August, when contemporary music is presented in the antique setting of the Capilla Real of the Hostal dos Reis Católicos, Praza do Obradoiro 1 (tel: (981) 582 200), and at the Auditorio de Galicia.
Santiago de Compostela is also one of the best places to hear the local Celtic music. Playing on gaitas (bagpipes), local tunas (often groups of students) will happily provide musical accompaniment to an early evening aperitif on one of the many outdoor bar terraces, for a small tip.
Theater: The Centro Dramatico Galego company, Rúa do Vilar 35 (tel: (981) 581 572), provides a focus for Galician dramatic expression. The Teatro Principal, Rúa Nova 22 (tel: (981) 542 347), is the city’s chief theatrical venue and the national theater of Galicia. Its output peaks during the celebrations of St James in July, while, over Christmas and New Year, it hosts a puppet festival for children. Alternative theater is presented at Sala Nasa, Rúa San Lourenzo, 51-53B (tel: (981) 573 998; website: www.salanasa.com), and Salon Teatro, Rúa Nova 34 (tel: (981) 581 111).
Dance: Traditional Galician dance is showcased at the street festivals and pageants in Santiago de Compostela. The Teatro Principal, Rúa Nova 21 (tel: (981) 528 700), also hosts dance events.
Film: The November Cineuropa Festival is Santiago de Compostela’s film festival, organized by the Teatro Principal. Cinemas in the city include Multicines Valle-Inclán, Rúa Fernando III El Santo 12 (tel: (981) 597 088), Multicines Area Central, Polígono Fontiñas (tel: (981) 560 428), and Multicines Compostela, Ramón Piñeiro 3-5 (tel: (981) 560 342). There are no cinemas specifically dedicated to arthouse or English-language films - in fact, films are rarely shown in the original version in the ordinary cinemas. They are mostly dubbed into Spanish. However, one week every month the Teatro Principal, Rúa Nova 22 (tel: (981) 542 347), shows films in the original language (with Spanish subtitles).
Literary Notes: Galicia has a strong literary tradition, with the writers Ramón María del Valle-Inclán, Rosalía Castro (who wrote in Galician and Castilian) and Camilo José Cela (Nobel Prize-winner for Literature in 1989) being the most famous flowers in the Galician literary garden. Its modern literary scene is small but intensely active.
Santiago de Compostela has attracted attention outside the confines of regional literature. Describing the pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela as the birth of European consciousness, Goëthe said that ’Europe is the pilgrim son of Santiago’. Less portentously, Gabriel García Márquez said, ’Santiago de Compostela is a lively city, overrun by a mass of joyous and noisy students, who leave it not the slightest deference to age.’
The veteran Spanish Surrealist director Luis Buñuel made his characteristically acid comment on the Santiago tradition with The Milky Way (1969), in which two tramps travel the old Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago de Compostela on a mission from Satan to beget the Antichrist from a prostitute. Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho also brought the Way of St James to international attention with The Pilgrimage (1987). More recently, travel writer Tim Moore related his attempt at tackling the famed route in Spanish Steps: Travels with my Donkey (2004).
Santiago de Compostela Tours
Walking Tours
There are several guided tours in English available from Turismo de Santiago’s main office at 63 Rúa do Vilar. Among the options are a two-hour gastronomy tour, a church tour, a nocturnal tour, an architecture tour and a tour around the Old Quarter. For reservation, call 902 190 160. It is also possible to rent an MP3 guide to the city from the tourist office. Walks with local guides are available from the Association of Professional Guides (tel: (981) 569 890).
Other Tours
A little tourist train goes round the city at a leisurely pace and takes in the main sights. The tour takes about one hour and the train leaves every hour between 1100-1300 and 1600-1900 from Praza do Obradoiro or Avenida Xoán XXIII during the summer season. For booking, call 902 190 160.
