Jim's Voyages: A Coruña, Spain (Day 116)

Hello Everyone!

Today (Friday, 1 May 2026) we docked in A Coruña, Spain. A Coruña feels like the kind of place that never tried very hard to impress tourists, which is probably why it works so well. Sitting out on Spain’s northwestern Atlantic coast, it has a rugged, salt-air character that feels more connected to the sea than to the usual postcard version of Spain. The weather changes quickly, the wind is almost always present, and the ocean seems to dominate everything. You can walk for miles along the waterfront promenade watching waves hammer the rocks below the old Roman lighthouse, the Tower of Hercules, which has been standing there for nearly two thousand years still doing its job.

What I liked most about A Coruña was how normal and authentic it felt. This is a real working city first and a tourist destination second. The old town is compact and easy to wander, the seafood is outstanding without being pretentious, and evenings seem built around long walks, small bars, and unhurried meals. Instead of flashy landmarks or grand monuments, the city wins you over gradually with atmosphere — gulls circling over the harbor, cool Atlantic air coming off the water, glass-fronted buildings glowing in the late afternoon light, and restaurants serving octopus and shellfish that were probably in the ocean that morning. It feels less like visiting a major attraction and more like discovering a place people genuinely live and enjoy.

My excursion for today was to take a walking tour of the Old Town part of A Coruña, then enjoy some beer and tapas in a local restaurant.

We walked with our guide from the ship in a small group, passing myriad boats in the marina. Here you can see the harbor with our floating hotel in the background.

Port of A Coruña with Viking Sky in the Background

The waterfront area is old and historic. These buildings with glass-fronted balconies have been there for over one hundred years and were once right up against the waterfront. Over the ensuing years, they've reclaimed some land, adding about 100 yards or more of space. What you see here was originally the back of the buildings.

Avenida da Marina - A Coruña Waterfront

Casa Paredes on the Waterfront

We walked from the waterfront into the old walled city. One of the first things we saw was this ancient church. The Church of Santiago in A Coruña is the city’s oldest church, dating back to the 12th century during the height of medieval pilgrimage activity in Galicia. It was built in the Romanesque style not long after A Coruña began growing as an important Atlantic port tied to the pilgrimage routes leading to Santiago de Compostela. The church was dedicated to Saint James (Santiago), the patron saint of Spain and the central figure of the Camino pilgrimage tradition. Pilgrims arriving by sea would often pass through A Coruña on their way inland to Santiago de Compostela, so the church became connected to that movement of travelers, sailors, and merchants.

12th Century Church of Santiago

Architecturally, it’s one of the best surviving medieval buildings in the city. Much of the original Romanesque structure remains intact, especially the heavy stone construction, rounded arches, and carved entrance figures typical of that period. Over the centuries it was modified and repaired as A Coruña evolved from a medieval port into a fortified Atlantic city, but it escaped the extensive destruction that wiped out many older structures elsewhere in Spain. Today it sits quietly in the old town surrounded by later buildings, and unless you know the history, it’s easy to miss just how old it really is — nearly 900 years of continuous use in a city shaped by the sea, trade, and pilgrimage.

Interior, Church of Santiago

We moved on to the Iglesia (Church) de Santa Maria del Campo nearby. The Iglesia de Santa María del Campo is another old and important medieval churches in A Coruña, built mainly during the 12th and 13th centuries. The name “del Campo” — “of the field” — comes from the fact that when it was first constructed, it stood outside the oldest part of the medieval city walls in what was then open ground. Like the nearby Church of Santiago, it was built during the great era of pilgrimage traffic through Galicia and reflects the strong Romanesque influence found along the Camino routes leading to Santiago de Compostela.

What makes the church especially interesting is that you can still clearly see the transition from heavy Romanesque architecture into early Gothic design. The exterior has the thick stone walls, rounded arches, and carved figures typical of Romanesque churches, while parts of the interior begin to show the taller proportions and more vertical feel of the Gothic period that followed. Over the centuries it became closely tied to the city’s merchant and maritime communities, and today it remains one of the best-preserved medieval buildings in A Coruña. It has a quieter, more weathered feel than many grand Spanish cathedrals, but that’s part of its appeal — it feels deeply connected to the old Atlantic city that grew up around it.

Iglesia (Church) de Santa Maria del Campo

This typical street view in the old city is in front of an old school. The Escuelas Populares Gratuitas (“Free Popular Schools”) were founded in A Coruña in 1887 by Colonel Camilo Rodríguez-Losada y Ozores, at a time when much of the city’s working-class population had little access to education. A Coruña was still a relatively poor Atlantic port city then, with widespread illiteracy and child neglect among the poorest families. Rodríguez-Losada created the schools as a charitable Catholic institution to provide basic education, food, clothing, and moral instruction to poor children in the old city. The schools became so closely associated with feeding hungry kids that locals nicknamed them the “Escuela del Caldo” — essentially “the soup school.”

What makes the story interesting is that the schools were not just classrooms. They were part social welfare project, part religious mission, and part early vocational education effort aimed at improving conditions in the rougher neighborhoods around the old harbor. By 1891 they had already opened night classes for adult workers, drawing hundreds of laborers — fairly progressive for the period.

The institution grew steadily through the early 20th century and became connected with the arrival of the Salesians (the Don Bosco order) in A Coruña. The Salesians eventually took over operation of the schools between 1916 and 1922, helping expand their educational role in the city.

Today the original foundation still exists in a different form, mainly operating childcare and educational services rather than the old poverty-relief mission. But historically, the Escuelas Populares Gratuitas are important because they reflect what late-19th-century industrial and port cities looked like before modern public education systems and social services really existed.

Escuelas Populares Gratuitas

This building is the Town Hall of A Coruña. It is on the main square, the Plaza de Maria Pita and was completed in 1912.

Town Hall of A Coruña

From there we moved into the "new old city" to walk through the many tapas bars and restaurants in the area. The area was quite busy with pedestrian traffic, although most of the shops were closed due to the May 1st "May Day" holiday being celebrated locally. Although the shops were closed, the bars and restaurants were doing a booming business when we were there in the early afternoon. People were out enjoying the holiday and the good weather.

Hams and Charcuterie for Sale

Busy Pedestrian Street

Delicious Looking Sandwiches

Our guide led us into a local tapas bar where we sampled the local lager and some tapas. We had French fries, fried calamari and octopus, some roasted peppers, and a frittata made with eggs and potatoes. All were delicious.