Ferrol is a proper city, not a quaint pilgrim town, and it makes for a fine starting point. The port has served the Spanish Navy since the 16th century, and the grid-pattern streets of the Barrio da Magdalena — laid out by military engineers in the 18th century — give it a surprisingly elegant feel for an industrial shipyard city. Modernist facades line the streets, designed by architect Rodolfo Ucha in the early 1900s.
Pick up your credencial at the Co-Cathedral of San Julián, a neoclassical church built in 1778 with a dome that dominates the skyline. It's open mornings (10:30-13:00) and evenings (17:30-19:00). The Camino starts at the port, next to Sarga restaurant on the waterfront — look for the route marker.
All services here: supermarkets, pharmacies, ATMs, outdoor shops. The public albergue has 60 beds and opened in 2023. Give yourself a night to explore the Magdalena district, the naval arsenal (visible from outside), and the waterfront. The Jofre Theatre and the old fish market are worth a wander if you've got time.
Ferrol's food is Galician through and through. Pulpo, empanada, and fresh seafood from the ría. You won't go hungry.
Ferrol's harbour has been a strategic military asset since the 16th century. Philip V, Ferdinand VI, and Charles III poured resources into building what became the largest naval arsenal in Europe. The city grew around the shipyards, and that industrial heritage still shapes it today. The 18th-century grid of the Magdalena quarter — six parallel streets crossed by nine perpendicular ones — was a military planning exercise that accidentally created one of Galicia's most attractive neighbourhoods.
The Camino leaves Ferrol through the city streets, heading east toward the Ría de Ferrol. The first few kilometres are urban, passing through the Polígono da Gándara industrial area before the landscape opens up along the estuary. The path follows the ría closely, and on a clear day the views across the water are a fine reward for the unremarkable start.
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