Contraband Museum

The Contraband Museum is a teaching room equipped with audiovisual to create an interactive journey on contraband/smuggling; an activity which had particular prominence along the border between Galicia and Portugal. In this area, and given its special geographical characteristics; i.e. irregular, steep and with excellent viewpoints, made it easy to escape the surveillance of the Civil Guard, responsible for impeding this illegal trade, at a time where survival was a daily challenge. The contraband in this area has been documented since the 15th century and is linked to smuggling, fairs or markets where illegal goods were exchange. For example at that time it was wine, corn or salt. During the post-Spanish Civil War and the lack of basic products, led to the development of this activity as an alternate form of subsistence, where products like: copper, coffee, cod or sugar were the most profitable articles.
In this museum, managed by the Association for the rural development Portas Abertas, you can discover the routes and itineraries most widely used, the formulas and inventiveness used for these incursions to be successful, how to find your way during the dark mountain nights, or warning codes to finish a trip successfully. This museum allows us to travel back to the past and decipher the codes necessary to understand the context and need for this activity, accessing an unknown mysterious world outside the law.

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