The Praza do Obradoiro is the great set-piece of Santiago — a wide granite square framed by four historic buildings of entirely different styles that somehow form one of the most harmonious urban spaces in Spain. The Cathedral's Baroque towers dominate the east side; the Hostal dos Reis Católicos occupies the north; the neoclassical Pazo de Raxoi (now the seat of the Galician regional government) closes the west; and the Colexio de San Xerome completes the south.
The square is where the Camino ends. Pilgrims arrive at all hours, particularly in summer, dropping their packs and sitting on the granite paving, often in tears, sometimes in silence. Watching arrivals here — people who have walked 800 kilometres across Spain — is one of those moments that no amount of tourist traffic can entirely diminish.