Despedidas En Vigo ◉

“ Coídate ,” she says. Take care. The Galician word is softer than Spanish, a damp whisper.

In Vigo, goodbyes are not dramatic. There is no running after trains. Instead, you watch the Cíes Islands turn to shadows through the mist. A horn sounds—deep, animal—from a freighter leaving the port. The sound travels through your ribs. despedidas en vigo

You want to say something timeless. Instead, you notice a stray dog shaking itself by the Monte do Castro , and a woman selling bunuelos from a cart despite the rain. Life continues. Vigo does not stop for your tragedy. “ Coídate ,” she says

You hold her hand. It is cold.

You never say goodbye in the sun here. The sky, a gray wool blanket, presses down on the Ría de Vigo until the horizon blurs into the water. It is a city of granite and glass, of sudden downpours and ships leaving for places you cannot pronounce. In Vigo, goodbyes are not dramatic

Here’s a short literary piece inspired by (farewells in Vigo), capturing the bittersweet emotion of saying goodbye in the rainy, industrial, yet deeply sentimental Galician port city. Despedidas en Vigo In Vigo, farewells always smell of salt and wet asphalt.