Page 22 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Northern Spain

20  INTRODUCING NOR THERN SP AIN

These traditions are inseparable from
the landscape. Abrupt mountain sides
and narrow sea cliffs have imposed a
special way of life. In Galicia the misty
green countryside is a natural haunt for
the many spirits of Celtic folklore, while
to the Basques every inch of their beech­
woods and valleys has some historical
or mytho logical connection.
The Cantabrian mountains,
too, have ancient stories.
The landscape near Fuente Dé in the Picos de Europa Besides the moun tains,
the life of the rugged
Land and People north coast has been
Once the tide of history moved south, bound up with the sea.
large areas of northern Spain were left The Basques have
to themselves. As a result, today many historically been Spain’s
parts of Galicia, Asturias and the Pyrenees foremost seafarers, and
feel distinctly remote, dotted with furnished many of the
mountain farms and isolated vil lages skilled navigators who
whose buildings seem to have remained took Spanish explorers
virtually unchanged since the 1600s. to the Americas. The
This remoteness has aided the survival Galicians have long relied A woman in traditional
of a rich vein of traditions. Both Galicians on superb mussels and Galician costume
and Basques have their own extensive other inshore seafood as
folklore and myths, sometimes involving staples of their diet, and now outdo
witchcraft and magic. the Basques as deep­sea fishermen.

The port of Malpica on the Galician coast

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