The coasts of white sand and cliffs of the the Cíes islands have always been a refuge for restless people: the Barbarians escaping from the Roman Empire, the Pirates in search of the treasures of the Galician estuaries or the hippies desirous of peace and love at the end of the dictatorship found sanctuary there. Still today, sitting on the Monte do Faro with a view of the whole archipelago, one can have one of these rare moments when the mind goes blank and the problems are whisked away. Always irreducible, the Islas Cíes are for getting away from life, not for living. Their climate, cold and rainy in the winter, conceals the sunny paradise that shines in the summer. S

There are places in our country that do not know stifling hot nights in the summer. Corners sleeping at the foot of the mountains, which serve as a gateway to the areas where people go skiing, mountaineering or hiking. They are a usual passing route, but also a treasure in themselves. A treasure built under slate roofs to withstand the snow and cold when the winter comes. The Pyrenees in Huesca hide little secrets across the map, just before the roads are no longer displayed in the guides. The best known is Panticosa, a place of pilgrimage for skiers thanks to the Panticosa-Los Lagos resort. But besides skiing, there is a well-known spa resort and rivers flowing strongly when the t

  Mud springs, spa and cosmetic factory. Since 1900, before the term was invented, this Galician island was already a spa. And although some may not know, this was so because of a donkey. These noble animals have played an important role in Spanish culture. They have inspired, for instance, immortal works, such as that of the Nobel Prize Winner Juan Ramon Jimenez and his Platero y yo. Of slightly less importance, but equally legendary, was Rucio, the donkey that bore Sancho Panza’s extra kilos, the loyal squire of Don Quixote de la Mancha. And finally, there is the humble Galician donkey thanks to which, as they say in the Galician town of O'Grove, Spain discovered