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Home > Travel Spain > Spain Destinations > Vigo
Vigo
Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is one of the oldest inhabited regions on the planet. It is a country that is located in Southern Europe, politically organized as a parliamentary monarchy. It is the largest of the three sovereign nations that make up the Iberian Peninsula. Administratively, Spain is divided into 50 provinces, grouped into 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities with high degree of autonomy. The name Spain comes from the Latin name Hispania whose capital and largest city is Madrid.
Vigo is the largest city in Galicia, Spain and is located in the province of Pontevedra. According to the 2005 census, the population of the city of Vigo proper was 293,725, and the population of the entire metropolitan area was estimated to be 420,672, ranking as the 14th largest metropolitan area of Spain. The city is well known for its fishing industry, food, cultural and night life and football team Celta de Vigo.
Vigo has a long history. The urban area of Vigo is built over both a Celtic village and a Roman settlement. In fact, it is generally accepted that the name of Vigo comes from the latin word Vicus. During Middle Ages the small village of Vigo was part of the territory of neighbouring towns, mainly Tui, and suffered several Viking attacks.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the city was attacked several times. In 1585 and 1589 Francis Drake raided the city and temporally occupied it, leaving many buildings burnt. Several decades later a Turkish fleet tried to attack the city. As a result the walls of the city were built in 1656 during the reign of Felipe IV. They are still partially preserved. The city grew very rapidly in the 19th and 20th centuries. This resulted in continuous urban planning changes, making Vigo less structured than other Galician towns.
In cultural movements and the arts, a movida viguesa was a hedonistic cultural movement that took place in Vigo during the '80s triggered by the explosion of liberties after the death of Dictator Francisco Franco. The most important artists of this postmodern movement were musicians; particularly punk and new wave bands such as Siniestro Total, Golpes Bajos, Aerolineas Federales, Semen up or Os Resentidos. Vigo is one of Spain's most popular destinations, and is well known for the quantity of cultural related attractions and monuments that the city has embraced.
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