Stage Arou - Camariñas

The fifth stage comes to 23.8 kilometres between Arou and Camariñas and is, in terms of historical memory, the most heavily laden on O Camiño dos Faros. Here you understand why this shoreline is called the Costa da Morte. The profile is of medium difficulty, with a demanding section in the vicinity of cabo Vilán, and it requires some nine hours with stops.

The path leaves Arou along the coast and reaches, at 3.9 kilometres, the harbour of Santa Mariña, a natural shelter among the rocks. From there the beaches of Lobeiras, Trece and Reira follow one another, unspoilt sands backed by shifting dunes and with no access other than the path itself. The sense of isolation is complete.

At kilometre 8.5 the Cementerio de los Ingleses appears, a tiny graveyard walled in stone and raised above the cliffs. Buried there are the sailors of the British training ship Serpent, which was dashed against these rocks in November 1890 and from which barely three men survived out of the almost one hundred and eighty on board. The place, lashed by the wind and with no company but the sea, is one of the most haunting stops on the route.

Once past cabo Veo, the path takes on the climb to cabo Vilán, the high point of the stage. Its lighthouse, inaugurated in 1896, was the first in Spain to work with electric light and remains the undisputed symbol of O Camiño dos Faros. From the tower the view takes in the whole of the coast already walked. The descent passes beside the ermita da Virxe do Monte and comes out in Camariñas, a fishing town famous for its bobbin lace, still worked in the doorways of the houses.