Saliente de Coya, the little-known story of Vigo's most popular viewpoint

Vigo (Pontevedra), in southwestern Galicia, is a city with a beautiful estuary that bears its name and spectacular landscapes.

The sun setting over the northern mouth of the Vigo Estuary on a September afternoon
One of the beautiful and incredible sunsets of the Vigo Estuary recorded in time-lapse

The city was built in a mountainous area, so it has many slopes and, therefore, several viewpoints from which you can see extensive landscapes. The most famous viewpoint in the city is at the Castro Castle, which offers magnificent views of the Cíes Islands, the Morrazo Peninsula, the port, the Town Hall, and the lower part of the city.

Although the name of this viewpoint is not very well known even in Vigo, it is called Saliente de Coya. This name is due to its shape within the first walled enclosure of that castle, and also to the fact that it was oriented towards what was then the parish of Coya, one of the most populous neighborhoods in Vigo today, bringing together some 30,000 residents of the 293,000 inhabitants of the city.

The history of this viewpoint dates back to the 17th century, specifically to the year 1656, when construction of the aforementioned castle began, in the midst of the Portuguese war for independence (1640-1668). The fortification was an initiative of the Captain General of Galicia, the Italian Vicente Gonzaga Doria, and the first enclosure was completed in 1665. This enclosure had a single door facing north, which is preserved today.

To the west of this gate is the Coya Salient, which initially had several embrasures for cannons. Between the gate and the Coya Salient, a powder magazine was built in the 19th century (above), which still exists today and whose roof is often frequented by many young people (inappropriately, since access to it is prohibited). In the 19th century, the Coya Salient took on its current form, with the disappearance of the old embrasures, which were replaced by two circular shafts for the placement of two howitzers from the old La Laje battery. Two more howitzers were placed in the Regueiro Bastion, in the southwest corner of this first enclosure of the castle, which also preserves both shafts today.

This castle remained in the hands of the Spanish Army until March 28, 1964, when it was handed over to the Vigo City Council. Mayor Rafael Portanet, who held the position between 1964 and 1970, was the one who ordered the transformation of this old walled enclosure into the recreational space we know today. El Saliente de Coya was converted into a viewpoint, with two trees occupying the place of the old howitzers and a railing.

One of the typical elements of this viewpoint was a blue spyglass (no longer there) to better view the city. I took this photo in July 2010. In addition, one of the castle's three sentry boxes is preserved next to this viewpoint.

For years, it has been customary to leave padlocks as souvenirs at this viewpoint, in imitation of the famous Pont des Arts in Paris. These padlocks were painted during some of the renovation work on the viewpoint, along with the rest of the railing.

This is one of the best viewpoints to see the sunset in Vigo, as these two photos I took on September 7th show:

In addition to being a very popular site for humans, it is also frequented by teddy bears:

If you ever come to Vigo, I'll show you the location of this viewpoint on Google Maps here: