Rande Bridge

Dramatic suspension bridge over the ría, site of a 1702 naval battle

The Rande suspension bridge, built in 1978, spans the narrowest point of the Ría de Vigo between the municipalities of Redondela and Moaña. The view from the bridge deck is spectacular — the full sweep of the ría opens up in both directions, with Vigo to the southwest and the inner estuary towards Pontevedra to the northeast.

The bridge is best seen from the hills above, particularly from the Mirador da Madroa viewpoint, which gives the classic postcard view of the ría with the bridge in the middle distance. The water below is where the wrecked treasure galleons of the 1702 Battle of Rande lie, their remaining cargo still a matter of speculation. Driving or cycling across is straightforward; the bridge carries the main A-9 motorway between Vigo and the north.

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A story
During the Battle of Rande in 1702, a Franco-Spanish treasure fleet carrying silver from the Americas was caught in the ría by Anglo-Dutch forces. The Spanish burned their own ships rather than surrender the cargo. Jules Verne used the story in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea — Captain Nemo periodically raises silver from the seabed here, and a monument to Verne stands in the centre of Vigo today.