Breeds of Galicia
Spain's green north-west, land of the blond Rubia Gallega and the small Cachena with its great horns.
Breeds of this place
Best time: May to October.
Galicia, in the north-west corner of Spain, is a land of rain, small green fields, stone walls and oak woods. It has one of the largest cattle populations in Spain, kept mostly on small family farms. Its native breed, the Rubia Gallega, is golden-blond and large, and the beef from Galicia's calves carries a protected geographical indication. Cattle fairs, the feiras, are held on fixed days of each month in many towns.
Native breeds
The Rubia Gallega was once the plough and cart animal of Galician farms and is now raised for beef. In the mountains of the south grow smaller, older breeds: the Cachena, one of the smallest cattle breeds in Europe, with huge lyre-shaped horns; the Limiana, the Vianesa and others, many rare. Conservation herds keep them going.
The feiras
Galician towns have held monthly cattle fairs for centuries, on fixed dates such as the first or the fifteenth of each month. Animals are traded in the morning and octopus is eaten at the fair stalls. Lugo, with its complete Roman walls, is the main city of the inland cattle country.
A trail idea for Galicia
- Lugo The city inside its complete Roman walls.
- Monthly feiras Cattle fairs in the market towns of Galicia.
- Serra do Xurés Mountains on the Portuguese border, home of the Cachena.
Written by the EveryCow desk with AI assistance. Background: "Galicia (Spain)" on Wikipedia. Fair dates, markets and visiting rules change; check locally before travelling, and keep a respectful distance from working animals. If something is wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Cachena: Rosino, CC BY-SA 2.0, source