Vigo is the largest city in Galicia and one of the great fishing ports of Europe, spread around a deep natural harbour (the Ría de Vigo) on Spain's Atlantic coast, just north of Portugal. It is a working city rather than a tourist one, but the setting is dramatic, the seafood is extraordinary, and the Islas Cíes offshore are among the most beautiful beaches in Spain.
The Casco Vello climbs steeply from the waterfront, with narrow granite streets, tapas bars, and the Mercado da Pedra where oyster women shuck fresh oysters at stone tables and sell them with a squeeze of lemon and a glass of Albariño. Galicians speak Gallego alongside Spanish — a language closer to Portuguese than Castilian — and the culture has a distinctly Celtic, Atlantic feel that sets it apart from the rest of Spain.