One cannot speak about the history of Galicia without referring to the history of emigration as well. The same applies to Finisterre.
There are more than 314 500 Galicians living in Latin America, about 135 000 of which in Argentina, the country where most people from Finisterre migrated to. Many went to Patagonia to work as sailors. Most of them settled in the city of Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, where there is garden dedicated to Finisterre and a tiled monolith with a depiction of Cape Finisterre. The Sociedad Finisterre en América, founded in 1926 and with over 1000 members, is based in Avellaneda.
Calo Marcote, from Finisterre, was a sailor portrayed with his son by the photographer Manuel Ferrol in the famous 1957 picture "El hombre y el niño" (Man and Boy), a world-famous picture showing the pain of separation brought about by migration.
The Monument to the Emigrant (1993) on the harbor pays homage to all the Galicians who had to leave. It is the work of sculptor Agustín de la Herrán Matorras.
Today, the symbolism and devotion surrounding Santiago’s Way attract thousands of pilgrims, some even deciding to stay and settle in the earth’s end. The same happens with immigration, or when a neighbor goes abroad to work and finds love there. Keep your ears open to hear the voices of those who are elsewhere and at the same time belong on these shores.
