Arbo
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Arbo

Arbo

Galician border town on the Miño, known for lamprey fishing, stone pesqueiras, and Condado de Tea wines.

Arbo is a small municipality in the southwest of Pontevedra province, on the right bank of the Miño river where it forms the border with Portugal. The economy has traditionally been built on agriculture — corn and wine — and fishing in the Miño, where salmon, shad, lamprey, trout, and carp are caught.

The town is best known in Galicia for the Festa da Lamprea, one of the oldest gastronomic festivals in the region, held each April or May when lampreys run in the river. The festival centres on the traditional pesqueiras — stone traps built in the middle of the river from which fishermen collect lampreys with conical nets, some of them documented as far back as the 12th century. Lamprey is prepared in numerous ways and served alongside local wines of the Condado de Tea denomination — explained in detail at the Museo do Viño.

The surrounding countryside is gentle and green, with the Deva valley offering pleasant walking past the restored Os Muiños da Rocha mills and up to Mount San Fins. Arbo is close to the Portuguese border and to the larger towns of Tui and Ponteareas.

Guide

Things to Do

Arbo's attractions are modest but genuine. The single most distinctive thing here is the river itself — the line of medieval stone fish traps known as the pesqueiras, still used in late winter and spring to catch migrating lamprey. The Museo do Viño introduces the wine of the Condado de Tea sub-zone, the Os Muiños da Rocha mill park demonstrates the corn-grinding tradition along the Deva, and a short hike up Mount San Fins gives a view across the entire valley. Time a visit for the Festa da Lamprea in April or May if you want to see what makes the place tick.