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Vigo

City in Galicia, Spain

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Museo Quiñones de León ( Inventory ) Native name Museo Quiñones de León Location Vigo , ( Spain ) Coordinates 42° 12′ 47.6″ N, 8° 43′ 39.6″ W Established 1937 Website MuseodeVigo.org Authority file :
HombreDHojalata · CC BY-SA 3.0

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The municipality, with an area of 109.06 km2 (42.11 sq mi) and a population of 295,523 in 2024 including rural parishes, is the most populous municipality in Galicia, and the 14th-most-populous in Spain. The area of the municipality includes the Cíes Islands, part of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park.

Vigo is one of the region's primary economic agents, owing to the French Stellantis Vigo plant and to its port. Close to the Portugal–Spain border, Vigo is part of the Galicia–North Portugal Euroregion. The European Fisheries Control Agency is headquartered in Vigo.

History

In the Early Middle Ages, the small village of Vigo was part of the territory of Galician-speaking neighbouring towns, particularly Tui, and suffered several Viking raids. However, its number of inhabitants was so small that, historically, it was not considered a real town until around the 15th century, when the earliest records began.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the city was attacked several times. Francis Drake attacked the city twice – in 1585 he made a successful descent on the city gathering supplies and in 1589, during an unsuccessful attack by the English Armada, Drake raided the city and temporarily occupied it, burning many buildings. Several decades later an Ottoman fleet tried to attack the city. As a result, the city's walls were built in 1656 in the reign of Philip IV of Spain. They are still partially preserved.

At this time, and in spite of the attacks, Vigo developed its earliest commerce and was granted several privileges by the kings of Spain.

In 1702, the Battle of Vigo Bay occurred, and in 1719, because a Spanish fleet which departed from Vigo attempted to invade Scotland in support of the Jacobites, the city was occupied for ten days by a British force.

In 1808, the French Army annexed Spain to the Napoleonic Empire, although Vigo remained unconquered until January, 1809. Vigo was also the first city of Europe to be freed from French rule, in what is annually celebrated on March 28 as the Reconquista (reconquest from the French in the context of the Peninsular War). In 1833, the city of Pontevedra was designated the provincial capital of the province of Pontevedra, within which lies Vigo.

Vigo grew very rapidly in the 20th century, thanks to the fact that the Spanish government granted it a free trade zone in 1947 to encourage international trade and economic development in southern Galicia.

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Source and licence. Adapted from the Wikipedia article “Vigo” (this version, 2026-09-29) by its contributors, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Lablypedia has left out its tables, references and most pictures, and linked it to other Lablypedia articles.