Speaks:

  • Herminia Pernas, official chronicler of Burela, reveals to us an interesting element: how ships used to navigate before the existence of the Pena Burela Lighthouse, and an artisanal method of dyeing fishing nets that was used in a now-vanished hut. This hut was located right above the surface we are standing on, next to the ‘Faro Pena Burela’ Beacon, which now serves as an excellent viewpoint to our lighthouse.

  • Basilio Otero, president of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Guilds in the Fishermen’s Guild of Burela and fisherman, reveals to us the secret of the colors of the Pena Burela Lighthouse and how a strong storm managed to split it in half in the year 2014.

To learn more…

  • If you want to know more about the history of the fireplace that Herminia Pernas talks about, you can find information HERE.

  • Before the construction of the Pena Burela Lighthouse, sailors relied on the San Cibrao lighthouse (in operation since 1864), which they couldn’t afford to lose sight of because if they did, they ran the risk of colliding with the Burela rock, a dangerous obstacle to navigation.

  • Such was the case that old sailors remember that before the lighthouse was built, a merchant ship collided with it, beginning to sink and having to be scrapped at the same location of the incident, in the sea.

  • Basilio Otero explained to us how the colors of all cardinal buoys are, like the one in Burela. Do you want to know how the colors of the other cardinal buoys are? All cardinal buoys combine black and yellow colors, but they swap their position within the buoy. So, the colors are structured as follows:

      • West cardinal buoy: yellow-black-yellow

      • North cardinal buoy: the first third is black, and the rest is yellow.

      • South cardinal buoy: The first third is yellow, and the rest is black.

  • Píos or pías, as described by Herminia Pernas in the Galician language, are concave containers made of stone or other material, which hold liquids and come in various shapes and sizes depending on their intended use (Source: Dictionary of Real Academia Galega).