Ourense

Ourense steams. The city's springs — As Burgas, gushing near-boiling in the very centre since Roman times, and the chain of thermal pools along the Miño's banks — make it the thermal capital of Galicia, perhaps of Iberia: locals soak in riverside pozas on winter evenings, steam rising against the granite, a spa culture practised as casually as coffee. Rome bridged the river here — the Ponte Vella's medieval humps ride Roman foundations, the city's emblem — and gold in the Miño's sands may have named the place, as the legend of Auriense insists.

The old town gathers around the cathedral of San Martiño, whose Pórtico do Paraíso keeps its medieval polychromy — a painted cousin of Compostela's glory — and around the tapas lanes of the Vinoteca quarter, where the Ribeiro and Ribeira Sacra wines pour their home crowd. Carnival is the province's high art: the Entroido traditions of the surrounding villages, peliqueiros and cigarróns cracking whips in ancestral costume, spill their fame across the region each February. The concert record's register — bands, choirs, church music, touring visits — sounds atop this, with the municipal auditorium serving the seasons. Hot water, old gold, painted paradise: Ourense keeps Galicia's temperature several degrees above expectation.