Stage Finisterre to Muxía

Joining the two ends of the Camino is the last decision taken by the pilgrim who has reached the Costa da Morte. It is 27.6 kilometres between Finisterre and Muxía, some seven hours of walking and more than five hundred metres of accumulated ascent, which makes this one of the most demanding days on this section despite always running at low altitude. The route is waymarked in both directions, so it can be tackled equally from one town or the other.

The way out of Finisterre leaves the harbour and the seafront behind and turns north, moving away from the cape. Over the first kilometres the path takes its leave of the ocean and heads into a rural landscape of pine and eucalyptus woods, with stretches of continuous shade and soft ground underfoot. As Escaselas and Buxán are the first hamlets, small clusters of stone houses and hórreos where there are barely any services.

After the descent to A Canosa and the crossing of the river Castro, the path enters Lires, at kilometre 13.3. This tiny hamlet sits on the smallest ría in Galicia, an estuary separated from the ocean by the beach of Nemiña, which forms a wetland of great ecological value and a regular stopping point for migratory birds. Lires is the exact midpoint of the stage and the natural place to split it into two days.

The second half runs through Frixe, Guisamonde and Morquintián, across lonely country of linked ups and downs that presents no technical difficulty but wears you down. It is the most isolated stretch of the route, with very little foot traffic compared with the main Camino routes, and that solitude is one of the reasons why many pilgrims decide to come this far.

The final descent by way of Xurarantes brings the pilgrim back to the sea. Muxía appears ahead, spread over a tongue of land between the harbour and the open Atlantic. The stage ends at the santuario da Virxe da Barca, beside the rock formations that tradition links to the appearance of the Virgin to the apostle Saint James, and facing a horizon that for many brings the Camino definitively to a close.