We spent a weekend in Baiona where they celebrated their annual historical fiesta “Festa da Arribada da Carabela Pinta”. The Festa (Galician spelling) commemorates the arrival of the Pinta Caravel at the port of Baiona with the news of the discovery of America.

La Pinta (Spanish for The Painted One) was the fastest of the three Spanish ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first transatlantic voyage in 1492. The New World was first sighted by Rodrigo de Triana aboard La Pinta on 12 October 1492.

Baiona was the first port in Europe to receive the news of the discovery of America on 1st March 1493, when this ship, captained by Martín Alonso Pinzón, arrived back in port.

The festa celebrates this historic event every year with a mediaeval themed program. There are markets selling food, drink and crafts. They also hold lots of mini events and displays, like jousting

We wandered around for a few hours on Friday, bought some local art, ate some empanadas which are everywhere in Galicia and enjoyed people watching all the locals who were dressed up in their mediaeval finery.

On Saturday we caught the ferry service from Panxon, a nearby town where we stayed and returned to check out the jousting. It was very chaotic and tiring but fun.