Galicia is a region located in the northwest of Spain in Europe. Their borders are with Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. It is divided in four main provinces, named: "A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra ".

The Galician Highlands include all the villages located in the environs of the Manzaneda Mountains in the province of Ourense. Important places are: Pareisas, A Regateira, Paradaseca, O Chao, Celeiros, Chandrexa, Queixa, Casteligo, Parafita, Vozqueimado, As Forcadas, Requeixo. Cotarós, Penapetada, Somoza, Sobrado, Nagaza, Reigada, Cernado, Mormentelos, Chaguazoso, Pradoalbar, Vilariño do Conso, Cerdeira, Ocibeiro, Pedrazás, Chavian, Chavianciños, San Cristobo, Fitoiro, Rabal, Fonteita, Casteloais, Candedo, Montederramo.

But the more important village is Coba (with category of King’s Village since the XVI century by the Spanish king Felipe II).

The first written references to the Galician Highlands are of the times of the Roman Empire. The chronicles of the empire say that a tribe called "the Tiburos" inhabited this land and one of the main populations was "Nemetobriga ". This tribe had to correspond to the union between Celtic tribes, and previous populations called "Ligures ". The Highlands were very rich in gold (as described by Strabo and Plinio), and for this reason the Romans made great works, for example this bridge (Ponte Bibei).

Also a great tunnel through a mountain to change the course of a river and so to be able to recover the gold nuggets that were mixed with sands. This place is called "Montefurado", name that means "bored mountain". The entire province is called "Ourense", translated means "golden".

Very rich but with low population, for this reason it remains very silent in the history. In the Middle Ages, the lord of Monforte (Fortified Mountain) and the Roman Church were the owners of these territory.

The last war were The Highlands was very involved was the Spanish-French war in 1808. The French occupation forces make big damages and casualties.

The Spanish civil war 1936-9 didn’t have an impact in the land, but very big in the people with a lot of young people lost in the war front.

Here you will find histories, folk tales and legends passed from generation to generation from the night of the ages (we usually say "desde tempos de mouros" that means "from the old times of the magicians" in the Galician local language called "Gallego" Galician).

Also you will find customs, traditions and other aspects of the life in the so-called Galician Highlands that include the life style from beginnings of century XX to the 70^th years of the same century.

Most of the descriptions are in Spanish but you can use the translation facilities available in the www. Some are in Galician ("Gallego" a language similar to the Portuguese), but there is always a version in Spanish.

Many of these pages have an intimist tone because they are thought mainly for people with roots about these Highlands that are now around the word, but of course they are not only limited to them.

I heard most of the things you will read here on the long winter nights. I had lived some of them in my own life.

Some old histories are in the old books, the "libro do pueblo" (village’s book) and the "libro oscuro", (dark book) transmitted secretly from generation to generation in Coba.

On the very top of the Highlands, there is a Sky area, the only one in all the Galician region. This is in fact one of the reasons for the people to visit this area. But if you like to spend some time walking there are plenty of beautiful places.

Like this dam in Chandexa de Queixa.

You will not find to many people, and if you spend some time, you can still see the typical rural life style.

No, you will not find this guy. It is called Piliqueiro and it appears only in Carnival.

It is impossible now to see people with this raincoat. It was called "coroza".

But you can find little rural hotels like this one of "Paradela" build on a fortified house (we called them "Pazos").

Of course you can find also standard hotels like the ones on the "Cabeza de Manzaneda", top of the Highlands.

According with the traditional system that we use on the Highlands, I belong to the clan named "Os Recas de Coba", and to the clan named "Os Gaellas de Pedrazás".

I was born in the Highlands, but like most of the people of the Highlands my clan (Recas-Gaellas) with roots for centuries in the villages of Coba, Pedrazás and Fonteita on the Navea Valley, is now distributed around the word, with Spain, Argentina and USA as key points. I live now outside the Highlands,