Exclusive Tour of a 250-Year-Old Garden Hidden in Spain | Country Dreams

Added: 2026-05-08

[00:00:20]Near O Grove Beach, Leonor Magariños has fulfilled her country dream, and she's not the only one.

[00:00:38]At Rubianes Manor House, the Marquesa de Aranda and her advisor Guillermo Hermo are redeveloping the old garden.

[00:00:55]On the rugged Costa da Morte, Carmen and her brother Eliseo are trying to preserve agricultural traditions and pass them on to Carmen's children.

[00:01:12]Joaquín Míguez Rodríguez is keeping the Celtic [music] tradition of bagpipe playing alive.

[00:01:23]>> [music] >> Galicia is in northwest Spain on the Atlantic.

[00:01:35]The climate here is mild and humid.

[00:01:38]It is one of the rainiest regions [music] in the country.

[00:01:42]In summer, the sun provides heat and light.

[00:01:46]This combination of humidity and sun created evergreen Galicia.

[00:01:51]Here, in Galicia Verde, plants from northern Europe grow.

[00:01:56]There are lush fields and deep forests.

[00:02:12]>> [music] >> Long bays cut deep into the land.

[00:02:19]They're called Rías Baixas, estuaries that were flooded and shaped by the sea.

[00:02:27]They provide a habitat rich in nutrients for muscles and sea creatures.

[00:02:35]On the Ría de Arousa is one of the oldest country estates in Galicia, the Pazo de Rubianes.

[00:02:41]>> [music] >> The manor house was built in the 16th century, and the gardens were added 250 years later.

[00:02:53]>> [music] >> Today, the garden is the realm of Paloma Rey, Marquesa de Aranda, who inherited the property from her husband.

[00:03:02]Together with forest engineer Guillermo Hermo, she is completely reshaping the garden.

[00:03:08]In order to drain it, Guillermo has constructed a pond, which the Marquesa has come to inspect.

[00:03:37]For a long time, the lower garden was no more than a swamp. The water from a spring seeped in unhindered.

[00:03:44]Now, Guillermo has put in stone gullies to retain the water and divert it to the pond.

[00:04:10]For the pond, Guillermo chose a hard rock that doesn't leach minerals into the water and is resistant to frost.

[00:04:21]Above the stones is a good place for plants that prefer humid conditions.

[00:04:26]They shouldn't be planted too close together, as many reproduce quickly on their own.

[00:04:56]Paloma's true passion is for the flowers in [music] her garden.

[00:05:01]She likes nothing more than picking some so that she can also delight in them in her home.

[00:05:08]The Marquesa lives in Madrid and comes to Galicia regularly to look after her family [music] legacy.

[00:05:25]>> [music] [clears throat] >> The interior of the house tells the story of this century-old family tradition.

[00:05:34]It is a treasure [music] trove full of memories.

[00:05:40]In the library, there are old manuscripts and books.

[00:05:44]The history of the garden is well recorded.

[00:05:47]With the historic blueprints, Paloma and Guillermo can retrace its development.

[00:07:10]Her friend Leonor grows [music] them and has won numerous prizes with her come to bring her some plants.

[00:07:18]At the moment, they may not look like much, but they are to become the stars of the new camellia garden in the Pazo de Rubianes.

[00:07:28]Its historic grace is what makes the garden particularly charming.

[00:07:33]Enchanted corners and towering trees look like they belong to another era.

[00:07:50]>> [music] >> Where the Rías meets the open Atlantic, numerous sandy beaches and sweeping bays stretch for kilometers.

[00:08:26]It's a paradise for sand lovers, and many holidaymakers come here to relax in summer.

[00:08:38]Leonor Magariños also [music] spent every summer holiday in O Grove until she discovered a small plot of land, bought it, and fulfilled her country dream.

[00:08:56]>> [music] >> So close to the Atlantic, the climate is mild, as the Gulf Stream influences the air temperature.

[00:09:06]As a consequence, exotic plants like kumquats flourish here.

[00:09:11]The garden has become Leonor Magariños' main purpose in life.

[00:09:54]She wants to pass on her experience and passion for flowers.

[00:09:58]Leonor is in demand as an expert when it comes to breeding camellia.

[00:10:03]She gives courses where she explains how to successfully grow seedlings.

[00:10:49]And it's simple to do.

[00:10:51]With a sterile knife, cut off a 10 cm long twig.

[00:10:57]The cutting should have at least two leaves but no buds.

[00:11:02]Then dip the stalk into rooting powder and plant it in the pot.

[00:11:08]Finally, water liberally.

[00:11:12]>> [music] [music] [music] >> When the garden allows her the time, Leonor goes to the beach.

[00:11:40]She [music] makes use of the low tide to look for a specialty, fresh mussels.

[00:11:55]Mussel farming is important for the economy in the Rías Baixas.

[00:11:59]The region is one of Europe's largest producers.

[00:12:03]Ropes are attached to the rafts made of eucalyptus on which the mussels [music] can grow.

[00:12:35]>> [music] [music] >> In the green hinterland of the Rías Baixas, Joaquín Míguez Rodríguez lives together with his wife Monchita.

[00:13:08]They both enjoy their quiet and peaceful life just beyond the coast.

[00:13:18]For half a century, Joaquín has made and played gaitas, Galician bagpipes.

[00:13:24]A legacy of the Celtic tribe of the Gallaeci, after whom Galicia was named.

[00:13:30]It takes him 1 month to handcraft an instrument.

[00:13:33]The wood is from the Galician box tree.

[00:14:06]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> The wind blows away the clouds and the cold of the night.

[00:14:55]It is the determining element on the Costa da Morte, which owes its name to the wind.

[00:15:04]Coast of death.

[00:15:06]Many ships founded on this treacherous rocky coast.

[00:15:22]Here, Eliseo and his sister Carmen run their parents' farm.

[00:15:32]When the sun pushes its way through the last clouds, Eliseo herds his cows to the rambling fields.

[00:15:38]A ritual which his two nephews, Samuel and Anxo, like to take part in.

[00:15:55]>> [laughter] >> His sister Mari Carmen tends to the garden.

[00:16:22]She's created a rock garden with natural stones that she's now filling with flowers.

[00:17:05]Seaweed is regularly washed up onto the beach and the pair know how to put it to good use.

[00:17:11]It's excellent fertilizer and free for the taking.

[00:17:28]>> [music] >> Seaweed is also good for the flower beds.

[00:18:03]It can simply be distributed between the plants as it decays quickly.

[00:18:09]People who don't live by the sea can also buy seaweed fertilizer.

[00:18:14]It's a good organic fertilizer, particularly for ecological gardens.

[00:18:22]Back to the Rías Baixas and Pazo de Rubianes.

[00:18:28]Every day, nine gardeners are at work on the estate.

[00:18:32]There's always something to do.

[00:18:34]The enormous garden hardly gives Guillermo a moment's peace.

[00:18:45]The gardeners are pruning the camellia trees to retain their round shape.

[00:18:59]Around the pazo, [music] Guillermo has grown vineyards.

[00:19:03]From the grapes, Albariño is distilled, the wine typical of the Rías Baixas region.

[00:19:09]Translated, Albariño means the white from [music] the Rhine.

[00:19:14]Legend has it that the grape was brought to Iberia by monks from Germany along the road to Santiago.

[00:19:28]Guillermo regularly checks the plants for pests as the wine is very important for the pazo.

[00:19:53]consolidar >> The culture of [music] the Pazos dates back to the Middle Ages.

[00:20:20]The noble classes built themselves manners here as country residences.

[00:20:24]At Rubianes, the typical elements of these old estates can still be found.

[00:20:32]>> [music] >> Near the Pazo de Rubianes, [music] there is a convent of Cistercian nuns.

[00:20:55]They live a solitary life in the Monasterio de Armenteira.

[00:20:59]Behind the convent walls, the nuns make soap out of herbs and flowers.

[00:21:04]In autumn, Guillermo brought them camellia seeds from the Pazo.

[00:21:09]Now, he wants to pick up the soap the nuns have made out of them.

[00:21:24]The nuns squeeze camellia oil out of the seeds.

[00:21:29]As camellia hardly has any scent of its own, the oil is enriched with the essence of citrus fruit.

[00:21:35]This gives the soap a pleasantly fresh fragrance.

[00:22:30]In a combined effort, they've gathered seaweed on the Costa da Morte.

[00:22:35]But, there's more hard work to come.

[00:22:39]Now, they're off to the fields to scatter the seaweed.

[00:22:46]The seaweed is unloaded at regular intervals.

[00:22:49]Later, it's distributed by hand and then plowed under.

[00:22:56]Painstaking work.

[00:22:58]>> [music] >> Samuel and Anxo are also pitching in.

[00:23:35]On the family farm, there is still a few old grain silos. [music] The stone pillars are covered with a top stone to prevent mice and rats from getting to the grain.

[00:23:46]Air holes provide ventilation.

[00:23:50]The roof symbolizes the close connection between ecclesiastical tradition and Celtic roots.

[00:24:08]Elsewhere, the silos are purely for decoration.

[00:24:11]Although they could still fulfill their original purpose.

[00:24:14]Here, they're still in use.

[00:24:17]This is where Eliseo stores his old [music] corn varieties.

[00:24:31]Before he can sow the seeds, he must remove every single corn from the cob by hand.

[00:24:37]This type of seed has been used since the 17th century and is passed on from generation to generation.

[00:24:44]These plants are perfectly adapted to the weather conditions here.

[00:25:06]When the wind dies down in the evening and the fishermen go out to sea for their nightly catch, Carmen and her children go on long walks [music] along the cliffs.

[00:25:20]>> [music] [music] >> Perhaps one day, they will pass on [music] their mother's country dream to their own children.