What you can see on the O Grove webcam
A turning camera on the nautical pavilion moves between the fishing quay and its boats, the town beach and promenade, the bridge to the island of A Toxa and the fish market with the ría behind. A 24-hour time-lapse of the same camera follows the live picture.
O Grove's harbour and the bridge to A Toxa
Galicia's public broadcaster keeps this camera on the nautical pavilion beside O Grove's harbour, and it tours the waterfront in turn. One view runs along the pontoons and the fishing quay, lined with working boats; another frames the long, low bridge to the island of A Toxa, with the promenade and the town beach in front; others turn to the town climbing the hillside, the marina and the harbour car park, and the fish market building with the ría behind.
The water belongs to the Ría de Arousa, the inlet best known for the floating rafts on which mussels are grown, and tourist catamarans leave from this harbour for trips among them. It is a good camera for checking the light over the ría, the state of the tide on the beach and how busy the promenade is.
A Toxa and its spa
Across the bridge, A Toxa is a small wooded island given over to hotels, a golf course and a spa. Its fortunes were made by the thermal mud and springs rediscovered in the 19th century, which turned a grazing island for O Grove's cattle into a fashionable resort; soaps and cosmetics named after it are still sold all over Spain. Near the bridge stands a little chapel whose walls are covered entirely in scallop shells, the photograph everyone takes.
When to watch O Grove
O Grove keeps Spanish time, one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. Each October the Festa do Marisco, the seafood festival, fills the town with visitors, and summer weekends bring crowds to the beaches. In autumn and winter the camera shows a working port, with boats tied up at the quay and the ría often glassy on still mornings. Watch the tide too: it comes and goes a long way on the shallow shores of the ría.
Around O Grove
On the isthmus, A Lanzada is a long, open Atlantic beach popular with surfers, very different from the calm water of the ría. Catamaran trips from O Grove's harbour head out among the mussel rafts. Sanxenxo and its beaches are a short drive east, and the island of Ons is visible offshore.
Getting to O Grove
The nearest airport with flights from the UK and Ireland is Santiago de Compostela, about 62 miles (100 km) north by motorway. Pontevedra, the nearest railway station of any size, is about 28 miles (46 km) away.
