I remember growing up watching the love affair of Teresa Mendoza and El Gallego in the hit narco-novela La Reina del Sur (Queen of the South). The character of El Gallego was that of a very sincere and athletic Galician sailor. Back then, I didn’t know what it meant to be a Gallego (a person from Galicia), but fast-forward to 2019, I am now in Galicia, the place where all Gallegos are made. I recently asked a friend to define what it meant to be Gallego. Her response was:
“It is a bit broad and complex. Galician people are very welcoming people. We share a culture, a Celtic culture. We do a lot of parties during the year, but especially in the summer. Galicia has a lot of different places and the Galician language varies depending on where you are. We all know how to speak Galician and Spanish; we are taught both languages in school and we study subjects in Spanish and Galician. When we talk and somebody asks us a question, we sometimes answer with another question. We love nature and our community. We usually prefer calm instead of big and hurried cities. And the sea is essential for many Galician people, if not for all. We are a community where the majority of our livelihoods come from the sea. We love gastronomy, eating and good and local quality tapas. We also have local wines.
