What you can see on the Ortigueira webcam
A camera in the Alameda gardens moves between the marina and the ría with its tall palms, the waterfront houses with their glazed balconies and the pontoons of the harbour. At low tide the ría becomes a broad plain of sandbanks and channels below the forested hills.
Ortigueira's palm-lined marina and the ría
The camera stands in the Alameda, the gardens beside the waterfront in the centre of Ortigueira, and moves slowly between several views. One looks past tall palms across the marina and its breakwater to the ría, which at low tide becomes a great spread of sandbanks and channels below the forested hills on the far shore. Another turns to the white houses with glazed balconies along the promenade; a third looks down on the pontoons, with small boats and the harbour car park.
This harbour is where the main stage of the Festival of the Celtic World goes up each summer, with bands from the Celtic nations, from Ireland and Scotland to Brittany. The rest of the year the camera shows a quiet estuary town, and the best thing to watch is the tide filling and draining the flats.
The Festival of the Celtic World
The International Festival of the Celtic World was founded in 1978 by members of the local pipe band, and it is still free to attend. It is usually held on the second weekend of July, with the main stage set up right on the harbour seen by the camera, and bands from the Celtic nations, Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Asturias and Galicia among them, play to thousands of visitors; many camp in the pines behind Morouzos beach. The rest of the year the ría is the attraction: a Ramsar wetland of international importance, rich in wading birds and wildfowl.
When to watch Ortigueira
Ortigueira is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. The tide is the great show here, filling and emptying the ría twice a day. Winter brings Atlantic storms and the best birdwatching on the estuary; summer brings long evenings and the festival crowds.
Around Ortigueira
West across the ría lie Cariño and Cabo Ortegal, with the highest sea cliffs in mainland Europe beyond. To the east, the cliffs of Loiba have a bench that has been called the best in the world for its view, and the road continues to the lighthouse at Estaca de Bares. Morouzos is the town's long beach, on the ría.
Getting to Ortigueira
Santiago de Compostela airport is about 82 miles (132 km) away, roughly two hours by car. Ortigueira has a station on the narrow-gauge railway along the north coast between Ferrol and Asturias, a slow but scenic way to arrive.