Pontevedra old town — Ferrería and the Peregrina

Pontevedra pedestrianised its whole historic centre two decades ago, and it changed what the place is like to photograph: no parked cars, no traffic noise, children playing in squares that would be car parks anywhere else. The Praza da Ferrería is the largest, with an arcade along one side, magnolias, a fountain and the Peregrina church closing the view.

That church is the signature building — a compact eighteenth-century rotunda whose ground plan is a scallop shell, the badge of the Camino, with a curved baroque façade and twin bell towers. It sits at an angle to the square, so there is a clean three-quarter view from the north-west corner.

Behind it the old town is a grid of granite lanes and small squares: the Praza da Leña with its cruceiro and stone hórreo, the Praza da Verdura, the arcades of Ferrería giving shelter in rain. Everything is within five minutes on foot, which makes this the easiest place in the Rías Baixas to shoot a long session without transport.

Granite is a cool grey stone and it wants warm or soft light: early morning and the hour before sunset work best, and overcast days are genuinely fine. The squares fill with terrace tables from midday and stay busy into the evening, so early morning is the only time they are empty.