1. Alto do Acevo

A landscape can elicit an immediate response: we might find it pleasing, relaxing, or surprising, or it might make us feel small in the face of a mountain’s vastness. We do not need to know the name of every tree or understand how the terrain was formed to enjoy it.

The opportunity to contemplate, walk, breathe, disconnect, and enjoy nature also constitutes a benefit that ecosystems provide to society.

The forest can also be smelled, heard, and felt. The scent of damp vegetation after the rain, the aroma of leaves, earth, or flowers; the sound of the wind in the trees, of birds, or of water; the feeling of coolness beneath the canopy or the contrast between light and shadow, all are part of the walking experience.

These are sensations we often perceive without pausing to reflect on them, yet they contribute to our well-being and ensure that certain places remain in our memory.

Forests hold a value that cannot always be quantified, such as the opportunity to experience them firsthand. PEFC works to ensure that these intangible forest benefits are also recognized and valued.

At Paradanova, the Camino offers two alternatives: continuing towards A Fonsagrada or taking the historic variant that passes through A Proba de Burón. The latter allows you to venture into the Val do Burón, recognized in the Galicia Landscape Catalogue as an Area of ​​Special Landscape Interest.

These areas are territories where particularly outstanding natural, cultural, heritage, and visual values ​​converge. Their recognition reminds us that a landscape is not merely what we behold; it also preserves ways of life, traditional practices, paths, and elements that explain the history of the place.

In the Val do Burón, the hillsides, watercourses, vegetation, meadows, villages, and hills form a mosaic closely linked to human presence. Every path, forest, meadow, or rural settlement is a piece of a living landscape that must preserve its values ​​without losing the activity that sustains it.

A Fonsagrada is also part of the River Eo, Oscos, and Terras de Burón Biosphere Reserve, designated by UNESCO in 2007 and spanning territories in both Galicia and Asturias. Among the Galician municipalities crossed by the Primitive Way, A Fonsagrada and Baleira are included in this Reserve. This recognition highlights a territory where natural and cultural values ​​are deeply intertwined with the inhabitants’ ways of life and work. Later on, upon reaching Baleira and the source of the Eo River, we will learn in greater detail what it means to be part of a Biosphere Reserve.

A Proba de Burón has a long history linked to the organization and administration of these lands. The town was likely founded around the year 1200, during the reign of Alfonso IX, and became the center of a territory consisting of approximately the present-day municipalities of A Fonsagrada and Negueira de Muñiz. A document preserved at the Monastery of Meira shows that, by 1265, the Burón council was already functioning in an organized manner.

For centuries, A Proba de Burón served as a political, administrative, and economic hub. From this location, a territory comprising hills, villages, and farmland was governed, and taxes, the obligations of the inhabitants, and the use of resources were regulated. Although its importance decreased over time, it retained its status as the municipal seat until 1835, when it was incorporated into the Municipality of A Fonsagrada.

The remains of the Tower of Burón, also known as A Fortaleza or the Tower of the Counts of Altamira, recall the era when A Proba served as a center of power. The tower was part of a larger fortress complex featuring defensive walls, multiple towers, and the quarters from which the lords administered their domains. Its history is linked to the Irmandiño revolts, uprisings that united peasants, townspeople, artisans, and members of the minor nobility against the abuses committed by great lords from their castles and fortresses.

When we gaze at a forest landscape, we rarely think about who is behind it. Yet, many of the forests we see have owners and managers who decide how to care for them, utilize their resources, prevent risks, and maintain their environmental, social, and economic functions.

Public and private woodlands coexist in Galicia. Among the latter are community-owned woodlands, a form of private yet collective ownership characteristic of the region. They belong to the group of residents making up a community, without the allocation of individual shares, and are indivisible, inalienable, imprescriptible, and immune to seizure.

For generations, these hills provided timber, firewood, pasture, scrub, and other resources essential to village life. Today, they continue to play an important productive and economic role, while also protecting soil and water, conserving biodiversity, storing carbon, and offering places for walking and enjoying the landscape.

Its significance extends far beyond the local context: nearly one-fifth of Galician territory—approximately 650,000 hectares—consists of communally held woodlands managed by around 3,000 communities.

In the vicinity of Alto do Acevo, part of the landscape extending toward Monteseiro is linked to this form of collective ownership. The Monteseiro communal woodland comprises 1,700 hectares that have held PEFC certification since 2004, attesting—through an independent assessment—to the fact that the woodland is managed sustainably.

Managing a forest sustainably entails far more than deciding when to plant or harvest a tree. It means planning for the long term and striking a balance between resource extraction, biodiversity conservation, soil and water protection, carbon sequestration, forest vitality, and the needs of the people connected to the land.

PEFC forest certification makes it possible to verify that forest management meets sustainability criteria. To obtain it, the forest must have an appropriate management plan in place and comply with the requirements of the Spanish Forest Certification System. An independent body reviews the documentation and verifies on-site that management is being carried out correctly.

Although it lies somewhat off the route of the Primitive Way, if you stop in A Fonsagrada, it is well worth visiting the Seimeira de Vilagocende. The waters of the Porteliña River cascade through the vegetation, creating one of Galicia’s most spectacular waterfalls, with a drop of 54 meters.

The experience begins along the access path itself. The trail descends through the trees, offering views of a landscape of hillsides, forests, and villages as you move along. The path invites you to slow your pace, observe the changing vegetation, and gradually let yourself be enveloped by the surroundings.