Muxía clings to the end of a rocky peninsula, and its church sits on the very edge of the sea. The Santuario da Virxe da Barca stands on a ledge of granite where the waves break on three sides, and according to the legend, the Virgin Mary appeared here in a stone boat to encourage Saint James when he was preaching in Galicia. The great stones beside the church, including one that is said to rock when you stand on it, are the remains of that boat's sail, rudder and hull. The local pilgrims believe passing under or touching them can cure ailments.
The sanctuary has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries, and today it is an end point for many walkers on the Camino de Santiago, who continue on foot to the coast after reaching Santiago. In December 2013, the church was struck by lightning and burned, a loss that shocked the community, and it has since been restored. Nearby stands a monument to the oil tanker Prestige, which sank off this coast in 2002 and covered the shore in thick black oil. Muxía was one of the worst-hit towns, and thousands of volunteers came from across Spain to clean the beaches by hand. The monument, a tall split stone known as A Ferida, the Wound, commemorates both the disaster and the volunteer effort.
The town itself is a small fishing port of about five thousand people with a harbour full of boats, a few streets of white houses and a mood of salt and wind. The riding from Camariñas along the coast is a pleasure, with a road that winds between gorse-covered hills and the sea, with open views of granite and surf. The surface is generally good, the bends are moderate, and the wind and fog require respect. In summer the roads fill with pilgrims, cyclists and holidaymakers, so avoid the middle of the day.
Muxía has fuel, a few supermarkets and bars, and several restaurants that serve octopus, fish and shellfish. Camariñas is just over four kilometres to the south, and Fisterra, the so-called end of the world, lies farther down the coast. The two together make a good day.
Sit on the rocks by the sanctuary and listen to the sea, which has the dull boom of something that has been doing this for a very long time.