Xinzo de Limia
Xinzo de Limia (elevation 620 metres; population 3,912 hab.), is a town in the province of Ourense, Autonomous Community of Galicia, Spain. It lies on the important Autovia das Rias Baixas in the fertile valley of Antela, approximately 33 km from Verín and 43 km from Ourense. The Límia (Lima in Portuguese) river passes through the town on its way south towards the Portuguese border. Xinzo is a town of services and an important stopping point on the main Vigo-Madrid highway. There are several small industries, including a glass factory, and many pig and dairy farms in the surrounding area. The drained lakebed of Antela, once Spain's largest freshwater lake until the 1950s, produces corn, hay, and especially potatoes. Xinzo is in fact one of Spain's largest producers of potatoes. There is a legend connected to Xinzo. Several classical authors of antiquity reproduce the myth of the loss of memory connected to crossing the Límia River, referred by them as Lethes or Oblivionis. In 138 BC the Roman chieftain Décimo Junio Bruto put an end to the story told by the Galicians when, on crossing the river, he began to call each one of his legionnaires by their names from the opposite bank. Seeing the Límia today it is difficult to imagine this tiny river provoking such a fear. Xinzo has few monuments but is famous for hosting one of Galicia's most typical carnivals. The characteristic figure is the pantalla, dressed as a devil, who runs through the streets hitting those who are not masked with sticks of swollen pig stomach.
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