La Coruña

Introducing La Coruña

La Coruña is Galicia’s wealthiest city and was only recently overtaken in size by Vigo. They say ‘No one is a stranger in La Coruña’ and this is definitely the region’s most outward-looking and urbane city, as you might expect from a port of 2000 years’ standing that’s also home to the world’s second-biggest textile company, Inditex, and Galicia’s biggest banks and building companies. Today’s La Coruña is largely a creation of the 19th and 20th centuries, but it makes up for the paucity of historic monuments with a thriving and sophisticated cultural and nightlife scene and a superb maritime location. This is a city that repays more time and attention than most travellers give it.

Britain looms large on La Coruña’s horizon. In 1588 the ill-fated Spanish Armada weighed anchor here, and the following year Sir Francis Drake tried to occupy the town, but was seen off by María Pita, a heroine whose name lives on in the town’s main square. Napoleon’s troops occupied A Coruña for the first six months of 1809. Their British opponents were able to ‘do a Dunkirk’ and evacuate, but their commander, General Sir John Moore, died in the battle of Elviña and was buried here. In the 19th and 20th centuries, La Coruña’s port was the gateway through which hundreds of thousands of Galician emigrants left for new lives in the Americas.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009