Sunset Tourism in the Atlantic Area

The westernmost point of mainland Spain is located on the Costa da Morte, specifically at Cape Touriñán. Interestingly, if you draw a straight line from the cape toward the horizon, measuring 5200 km, it would reach New York.

Solstices occur twice a year, exactly when the sun reaches its furthest point from the equator. During the solstice, there's the greatest difference between day and night lengths. The summer solstice happens around June 21, while the winter solstice occurs around December 22.

During equinoxes, day and night are of equal length because the sun is positioned directly over the Earth's equator. The spring equinox marks the beginning of that season and occurs around March 21, whereas the autumn equinox takes place around September 22.

This refers to the alignment of certain buildings, archaeological sites, and geographical points with the sun or other celestial bodies at specific times of the day and year. On the Costa da Morte, we have an example in the Dolmen de Dombate; every winter solstice, the first morning rays of sunlight flood its central corridor with light.

Some historians suggest that thousands of people may have traveled to the Costa da Morte since ancient times just to witness the sun disappearing into the Atlantic Ocean. It is thought that these more or less organized pilgrimages were later adopted by Christianity and could be the origin of the Jacobean pilgrimage to Fisterra and Muxía.

It's an atmospheric optical phenomenon that can be perceived for a fleeting moment during the final seconds of sunset, where an intense green light appears above the sun for 1 or 2 seconds. Although observing a green flash is difficult due to the precise atmospheric conditions required, many people actively seek it out. Join them! Choose a calm day with minimal atmospheric turbulence, position yourself somewhere high, preferably facing an oceanic horizon, and keep your eyes fixed on the last rays of sunlight.