Record Shops Of Santiago de Compostela

Santiago Mist

Pulpo a la Gallega

Galician Bagpipes

I  recently had the chance to visit Santiago De Compostella in Galicia, at Northwestern Spain, with friends - a mixed company of Greek and Spanish expats from the Netherlands. Santiago is a beautiful Medieval city, made all the more atmospheric by the kind of misty weather we don't usually relate to Spain. Probably because of all the famous Spanish sea resorts, which are at the Mediterranean coast, while Galicia lies by the Atlantic Ocean. We were lucky enough to have a local among us, so we knew in which bars to drink, where to eat tapas, and where to find the delicious seafood which is the region's specialty. Do indulge when you're over there, certainly don't leave before you try the famous Galician octopus. The region has its own cuisine, traditions, dialect and culture, rich in Celtic influences. This is most evident in the local music scene, which is distinctly Celtic and often features bagpipes. You'll be sure to find some bagpipe players under the arc of the city's impressive Cathedral, which (ostensibly) hosts the holy relics of St. James, the city's biggest draw since the Middle Ages. You see, this has been for centuries the destination of the famous Camino De Santiago, a medieval pilgrim's trail which is nowadays at least as popular with hiking enthousiasts as it is with devout Catholics. You'll find a multitude of Camino-related items at the souvenir shops there, but if you're a vinyl junkie you'll want another kind of souvenir: the kind that is round and black with a hole in the middle, give or take 30cm (that's 12 inches for you Americans) in diameter. Thankfully, I know exactly where you can find it.

The city has 2 record shops, plus a third place which sells vinyl in addition to vintage clothing, books and comics. I'll start with that one, it's called A Reixa Tenda (Rúa do Hórreo 46). It carries very few records, all sealed or new (€12-25), mostly 60's mod and some Spanish indie pop, unknown to me but likely also mod-influenced judging from the album covers. I haven't asked, but it's probably related to the A Reixa Bar in downtown, a cool underground place with good rock music and posters of garage bands. A bit down the road on Rúa do Hórreo 80, you can find Discos Fans, which is apparently one of the oldest record shops in Galicia (since the 70's). It's rather small and has a random selection of CD's (2nd hand €3-7, new around €12) and LP's. Vinyl is rather overpriced, expect to pay about €15 for a good classic rock album in acceptable condition, almost twice of what you'd pay online. The last one, Disco Precio, is also in the same neighborhood (Rúa de Santiago de Chile 13). This one is a proper record store, where you can find a good sized selection of new and second-hand records and CD's. Albums are catalogued by artist and genre or by decade. Prices are usually €10-15 (used) and €15-25 (new), with many offers €5-6. There was a surprising variety of garage rock, as well as a lot of classic rock, alternative/punk, Spanish rock, and folk. It's also the only place I found Galician (Celtic) folk records, with the exception of some CD's in souvenir shops. There's also a good but random selection of used CD's, around €6.

Lastly, during my visit to the city, I chanced upon a feria del disco (record fair) at the back room of a local club. There were a few sellers with crates of goodies. CD's cost mostly €5-8, some interesting LP's both used and new reissues for €15-25. Anything below that was either in bad condition or just not interesting. I generally didn't find many good buying opportunities in Santiago, but I guess that's normal for a medium-sized town. If I expected better, it's because of the large student population, which supports a vibrant night life and a multitude of bars many of which play great rock music - not much of that going on in The Netherlands.