A bronzed, willowy veteran in black Speedos glides into the shallow, round-ish thermal pool snuggled into a grassy riverbank. It’s one of a huddle of rock pools, with trees and a modest wooden changing hut. We’re the only people here bathing beneath a cement-coloured sky that seems to inhale the steam billowing from the baths. It could be an onsen in rural Japan, except I’m about 10,000 miles from there, in north-west Spain.
The Outariz and Burga de Canedo thermal baths in Galicia are the largest of the council-run thermal areas in Ourense, with six thermal pools and two cold plunge pools, linked by a white, curved metal footbridge. Today, it’s almost empty and, most importantly, free to use, like most thermal baths here. Continue reading...
