Steaming in: Galicia’s scenic – and free – thermal baths
12.03.2024 - 11:23
/ theguardian.com
A bronzed, willowy veteran in black Speedos glides into the shallow, round-ish thermal pool snuggled into a grassy riverbank. It’s one of a huddle of rock pools, with trees and a modest wooden changing hut. We’re the only people here bathing beneath a cement-coloured sky that seems to inhale the steam billowing from the baths. It could be an onsen in rural Japan, except I’m about 10,000 miles from there, in north-west Spain.
The Outariz and Burga de Canedo thermal baths in Galicia are the largest of the council-run thermal areas in Ourense, with six thermal pools and two cold plunge pools, linked by a white, curved metal footbridge. Today, it’s almost empty and, most importantly, free to use, like most thermal baths here.
I didn’t know Ourense, or its thermal springs, existed until I recently stumbled across an American couple on YouTube who were doing the Minho Thermal Route – a gentle wander along the river of that name, which takes in four thermal bathing areas (three public, one private). It looked so lovely on their video that I had to follow their lead. So here I am, at the last stop on the short 4km (two-and-a-half-mile) hike, melting into thermal waters.
On the way back to Ourense, I snake by wise-looking trees with fluffy beards, pretty red bottlebrush, and a couple of cormorants perched on a mossy branch in the fast-flowing Minho – Galicia’s longest river. I pass a hórreo (a traditional Galician granary), a tunnel graffitied with a mural of Albert Einstein, and a family tucking into a picnic under an umbrella too small for four. All the while, the mighty Minho drowns out the hum of cars from a nearby road.
I stop to swill my mouth with thermal water at Fonte do Tinteiro – a solitary blue fountain on a wooden deck overlooking the river. Then I skirt by the pretty but waterlogged Chavasqueira thermal baths (it’s winter and the riverbanks have burst). Next, I cross the impressive Ponte Romana, the city’s ancient Roman bridge, before arriving at Ourense’s old town.
Founded as a Roman spa town in Galicia’s only landlocked province (also Ourense), it looks like all the great Spanish cities – timeworn squares, twisting cobbled streets and countless traditional tapas restaurants – only without the hordes of international tourists.
One of the delicacies here – served, appropriately, at Bar Orellas – is oreja, or pigs’ ears, which look and taste exactly how you would expect. The culinary scene, however, isn’t limited to meaty classics like this. There are also a handful of Michelin-acknowledged restaurants with excellent, innovative menus, such as Nova, Ceibe and Pacífico. Still, Ourense’s main draw is its thermal springs.
“Ourense is the thermal capital of Galicia. Not many people realise, but we