We walked up the hill to the Castello de San Sebastián only to find red tape across most entrances. This tape had been taken down by locals and seems to refer to adverse weather phenomena.
Weirdly it seems to be in many of the parks and locations we wanted to visit.
The Castelo de San Sebastián is a 17th-century fortress in Vigo that stands as a testament to the city's strategic military past. Built during a period of intense conflict, it was designed to protect the coastline from maritime threats.
The fortress was commissioned in 1656 during the reign of Philip IV, primarily to defend Vigo against potential attacks by English pirates and Portuguese forces during the Portuguese Restoration.
It was designed by military engineer Juan Villarroel y Prado alongside the brothers Carlos and Fernando de Grunemberg.
The castle was part of a larger defensive system that included the city walls and the higher Castro Fortress. It was originally connected to the Castro Fortress by a long defensive wall, creating a fortified corridor to safeguard the city.
Before the fort, the hill was home to a medieval castle and a chapel dedicated to Saint Sebastian, who was traditionally invoked for protection against the plague.
A "castreño" or hillfort settlement that dates back to the 3rd century BC. This site is considered the birthplace of what is now the largest city in Galicia.
Walking back down to the city streets to find good coffee, we see many peonie trees of different colour's, reds, pinks, whites and yellows.
We met a lady that was there with her 17 year old daughter for the young EU representatives conference. Young people trying to make a difference. She told us about Cafe Martinez, open since 1911 is an institution.
Walking there, we met the Sireno (Merman), an iconic sculpture located in the city's central hub, Porta do Sol.
Created by Galician sculptor Francisco Leiro in 1991, the statue represents a hybrid "man-fish" or merman (often translated as "Sireno" in Spanish).
Significance: It is one of the most representative symbols of modern Vigo, designed to reflect the city’s deep and enduring relationship with the sea
We found the cafe and they have lovely cakes and we had breakfast of croissants with ham and cheese and a cake, coffee and juice. Awesome!
We then went for a further walk to find Santiago de Compostela Square that supposedly had a street with ladies chucking oysters but being Sunday all was closed.