Cabo Vilán is a headland of dark rock, flogged by wind and swell, with a lighthouse at the end that has a place in the history of Spain. When its lamp was first lit in 1896, it was the first electrically powered lighthouse in the country, a statement of faith in the new technology on a coast that had long been the graveyard of ships. The tower is a plain, stout shape, with a small museum inside on the history of shipwrecks and lights, and the view from the foot takes in the roaring Atlantic and the long line of the Costa da Morte.
The shipwrecks are the reason for all of it. In 1890, the British Royal Navy training ship HMS Serpent was driven onto the rocks near here in a storm, and about 170 sailors drowned, with only three survivors. The dead were buried in a small walled cemetery on the coast near Camariñas, known as the English Cemetery, which stands in a quiet spot above the sea and is a moving place to stop. The locals helped with the rescue and the burial, and the story has become part of the local memory. The wild nature of the shore explains why so many ships have been lost.
Camariñas, a few kilometres to the east, is better known for its lace. For generations the women of the town made bobbin lace, a technique that involves dozens of wooden bobbins and a pillow, and the tradition continues in workshops and in the annual festival. The lace-makers' work is shown at a local museum and on the streets in summer, where women sit at doorsteps working on delicate patterns. It is a gentle contrast with the violence of the coast.
The road to the cape runs along the ria, a deep inlet, from Camariñas, then climbs over a bare headland of heather and granite. The surface is good, and the corners are open, but the wind can be fierce and gusts may catch you by surprise on exposed bends. Fog is common, and when it rolls in the lighthouse horn sounds. Keep your speed modest and your visor clean. The approach is short, so even a half-hour detour from the main road is worth it.
Camariñas, about four kilometres away, has fuel, supermarkets and several seafood restaurants. Mugía, six kilometres on, is the next major stop on the coast. Try the local octopus, grilled sea bream or a bowl of caldo gallego, a thick soup of beans, greens and pork that warms you after the wind. Storm days are dramatic, with waves exploding on the rocks, but check conditions and stay well back.