Vigo (, ) is a city and municipality, the capital of the comarca of Vigo in the province of Pontevedra in the autonomous community of Galicia, in Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the Ria de Vigo, the southernmost of the Rías Baixas.
The municipality, with an area of and a population of 295,523 in 2024 including rural parishes, is the most populous municipality in Galicia, and the 14th-most-populous in Spain. The area of the municipality includes the Cíes Islands, part of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park.
Vigo is one of the region's primary economic agents, owing to the French Stellantis Vigo plant and to its port. Close to the Portugal–Spain border, Vigo is part of the Galicia–North Portugal Euroregion. The European Fisheries Control Agency is headquartered in Vigo.
History In the Early Middle Ages, the small village of Vigo was part of the territory of Galician-speaking neighbouring towns, particularly Tui, and suffered several Viking raids. However, its number of inhabitants was so small that, historically, it was not considered a real town until around the 15th century, when the earliest records began.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the city was attacked several times. Francis Drake attacked the city twicein 1585 he made a successful descent on the city gathering supplies and in 1589, during an unsuccessful attack by the English Armada, Drake raided the city and temporarily occupied it, burning many buildings. Several decades later an Ottoman fleet tried to attack the city. As a result, the city's walls were built in 1656 in the reign of Philip IV of Spain. They are still partially preserved.
At this time, and in spite of the attacks, Vigo developed its earliest commerce and was granted several privileges by the kings of Spain.
In 1702, the Battle of Vigo Bay occurred, and in 1719, because a Spanish fleet which departed from Vigo attempted to invade Scotland in support of the Jacobites, the city was occupied for ten days by a British force.
In 1808, the French Army annexed Spain to the Napoleonic Empire, although Vigo remained unconquered until January, 1809. Vigo was also the first city of Europe to be freed from French rule, in what is annually celebrated on March 28 as the Reconquista (reconquest from the French in the context of the Peninsular War). In 1833, the city of Pontevedra was designated the provincial capital of the province of Pontevedra, within which lies Vigo.
Vigo grew very rapidly in the 20th century, thanks to the fact that the Spanish government granted it a free trade zone in 1947 to encourage international trade and economic development in southern Galicia.
Etymology
Vigo's urban area is built on both a hill-fort (Castro) and a Roman settlement. It is generally accepted that the name Vigo is derived from the Latin word vicus spacorum, meaning "small village".
The standard pronunciation of Vigo in both Galician and Spanish is .
Vigo has been given the nickname cidade olívica (city of olives). It is said that, after the conflict between Isabel de Castilla and Juana la Beltraneja - where Galician nobility fought for the latter - the victor ordered all of Galicia's olive trees to be cut down, as they symbolized peace. The tree in Vigo however, could not be uprooted as it was planted in sacred ground. The tree is represented in the city seal, and a descendant of it is still alive in Vigo's city centre.
Geography Vigo borders the municipalities of Redondela to the northeast; to the east, Mos; to the south, O Porriño and Gondomar; and to the southwest, Nigrán. On the opposite side of the bay are the municipalities of Cangas and Moaña.
Climate
Vigo has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb, Trewartha: Csbk), characterized by mild temperatures throughout the year, heavier rainfall on winters and appreciable summer drought. Although Vigo is the rainiest city in Galicia, its pronounced summer drying trend makes its climate more similar to the one observed in cities across the Pacific Northwest. The all-time record high for the city is set on August 7, 2016. Since Vigo is known for its extreme rainfall in winter, December 1978 saw fall at the weather station in a single month. During that month on 7 December, fell on a single day. Normal values for 1991–2020 was falling on just 126 days indicating heavy rain to be common. The airport where values are taken is located further inland at a considerably higher elevation () than the city itself located on the coastline in the Ria de Vigo estuary, which is likely warmer year-round.
Demographics
As of 2024, the municipality of Vigo has a population of 295,523, of which 201,018 is in the core city, with an extended metropolitan population of 545,892 in the southern part of the province of Pontevedra, making it Spain's 14th-largest metropolitan area.
As of 2024, the foreign-born population of the city is 41,833, equal to 14.2% of the total population. The main nationalities are Venezuelans (8,385), Colombians (3,868), Argentinians (3,169), Brazilians (3,150), Peruvians (2,534), Portuguese (2,091), and Uruguayans (2,014). +Foreign population by country of birth (2024)CountryPopulation8,3853,8683,1693,1502,5342,0912,0141,4361,3001,1481,1441,017873781657 By language, as of 2013, 7.7% of the population spoke exclusively in Galician, and 51.39% in Spanish; 11.4% spoke in Galician more often than Spanish, and 29.6% more often in Spanish than Galician. This made Vigo the least Galician-speaking city in Galicia.Instituto Galego de Estatística .
The creation of Vigo metropolitan area was approved in 2016 and, in addition to Vigo, it originally accounted for the following 13 municipalities: Baiona, Cangas, Fornelos de Montes, Gondomar, Moaña, Mos, Nigrán, Pazos de Borbén, O Porriño, Redondela, Salceda de Caselas, Salvaterra de Miño and Soutomaior.: It has been however suspended since its creation. The European Union's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy assigns Vigo a wider functional urban area (FUA), with 21 municipalities and a population of 541,000 inhabitants.
Administration Local government
The city council (Concello de Vigo) is the body responsible for the governance and administration of the municipality, the lowest level of local government in Spain. The plenary of the concello is formed by 27 elected municipal councillors, who in turn invest the mayor. The council meets at the Casa do Concello at the Praza do Rei.
The last municipal election took place on 28 May 2023, leading to a plenary formed by 19 councillors from the Socialists' Party of Galicia–PSOE, 5 from the People's Party and 3 from the Galician Nationalist Bloc.: The current mayor is Abel Caballero of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party), who has won five mandates in a row since becoming mayor in 2007.
Administrative subdivisions Vigo is divided into 18 parishes. Seventeen of these correspond to traditional ecclesiastical parishes, while the administrative parish of Vigo Centro encompasses the ecclesiastical parishes of Bouzas, Coia, Freixeiro, San Paio and San Xoan do Monte. Each parish is further subdivided into barrios or neighbourhoods. + Parishes of VigoPlace namePopulationLand area in km2Map of Vigo1Alcabre4,1981.22Beade5,25073Bembrive4,37494Cabral6,6549.15Candéan4,63956Castrelos8,09627Comesaña6,38938Coruxo5,29699Lavadores17,636610Matamá3,5694.6711Navia6,2692.4512Oia3,935413Saiáns1,1501.8214Sárdoma2,4521.915Teis2,188516Valadares5,4571117Vigo Centro201,01814.5418Zamáns8407 The parishes of Bouzas, Lavadores and Teis were their own municipalities before they were incorporated into Vigo.
Tourism
Vigo is home to the Co-cathedral of Santa María and several museums, most of which were inaugurated between the late 1990s and early 2000s. Among them are the Museum of Contemporary Art (MARCO) and the Museum of the Sea. The oldest museum is the Quiñones de León Municipal Museum.
Casco Vello (historic centre) Porta do Sol, Policarpo Sanz and Alameda area (modern centre) Príncipe and Urzaiz Streets (commercial area) Celtic Castro ruins Castro fortress Collegiate church of Santa Maria de Vigo
Museums Naturnova Museum: Museum dedicated to the environment. Interactive contents. Museum of the Sea: Museum dedicated to the Sea, and to tinned food and to naval. Important building designed by famous architects Aldo Rossi and Cesar Portela. Museum of Contemporary Art, Vigo: One of the most important museums of Contemporary Art in Spain. Museum of Castrelos. Verbum, Casa das Palabras. A museum dedicated to languages and communication. Important building designed by famous architect Cesar Portela. Pinacoteca de Vigo Galician Center of Photography Ethnographic Museum Liste Pedro Barrié de la Maza Foundation
Romanesque architecture of Vigo
The municipality of Vigo is one of the most important Roman centers of Pontevedra. Although within the city one will not find much Romanesque architecture, it can be seen a few kilometers away from the city center. In many of the municipality's neighborhoods and parishes a large number of Roman ruins remain. Such is the importance of the Roman remains in Vigo that many Spanish authors have come to coin the term Romanesque Vigo (románico vigués in Spanish). Vigo retains some interesting examples of Romanesque churches in southern Galicia: Santa María de Castrelos Santiago de Bembrive San Salvador de Coruxo
Beaches Throughout the municipality of Vigo there are 47 coves and beaches, including sandy areas with waves for water sports, wild coves, family beaches, nudist beaches and urban beaches. Some of these coves and beaches have various facilities or services for their users, such as sports areas, showers, footbaths, public address system, promenade, Red Cross lifeguard and rescue post, areas adapted for people with disabilities, etc.
In June 2020, the Association for Environmental and Consumer Education (ADEAC) awarded the blue flag distinction to the following 10 beaches in Vigo: Argazada, Canido, Carril, Fontaíña, Muíños de Fortiñón, Punta, Rodas, Samil, Tombo do Gato and Vao.
Transport
Airport
Vigo is served by Vigo-Peinador Airport (VGO/LEVX). Located 12 kilometres to the east of the city of Vigo, straddling halfway the municipalities of Vigo, Redondela and Mos, it offers domestic and international destinations.
Port A ferry service operates between the Port of Vigo and the towns of Cangas and Moaña as well as the Cíes Islands, 15 kilometres away from the city, part of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park, the only National Park in Galicia, which includes Ons Island in the Pontevedra Bay.
It additionally provides temporary docking for passing cruise ships.
Rail transport Urzáiz and Guixar railway stations serve Vigo, allowing direct connections to the rest of Galicia as well as to Porto across the border in Portugal.
Road European route E01 passes through the town. This highway runs south through Lisbon and north to the A Coruña area.
The Autovía das Rías Baixas motorway (A-52) goes inland, east to Ourense and Madrid from O Porriño. A branch of the AP-9 motorway connects Vigo to Portugal in the south and with Pontevedra, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña and Ferrol in the north.
Public transport Urban transport is provided by buses by Vitrasa.
Economy
Vigo is characterized by a diversified economy linked to the fishing sector, industry, trade, tourism and services. It is often considered with A Coruña one of the economic and industrial engines of Galicia.
Fishing sector Vigo is the home port of many of the world's largest fishing companies, such as Pescanova and Iberconsa and the most important centre of the Galician canned and processed fish industries.