Illustrious natives

Ramón Caamaño Bentín (1908 -2007), together with Gonzalo López Abente, is one of the most relevant people in the cultural life of Muxía.

Ramón Caamaño, the photographer of Muxía

Thanks to this perfectionist, who had a great memory, a lover of sunsets and his work, the pictures of the people, landscapes, popular feast days, traditions and daily life of the Death Coast (Costa da Morte) are known both in Galicia and beyond its borders. The life of Muxía and its people has been immortalised.

His legacy consists of over fifty thousand photographs, kept by his son-in-law Chete Pose González. Over time, his photos, dating from 1924 onwards, have become important documents in the visual history of the area. His work is also a vision of the history of rural photography. He produced the first postcards of Muxía and Corcubión – the town where he lived – and coloured them by hand. The keeper of the legacy is often asked for permission to use the material in exhibitions and even in theses.

“He took his camera everywhere with him”, even after he retired, says Pose González. Among this immense heritage are photographs from the 1920s in perfect condition. “Before the definitive copy he used to develop a couple of tests. He didn’t mind spending on material”, he goes on. His privileged memory also enabled him to see a negative and remember the name of the person on the image and where they came from, even with photos of babies. He was a great visual recorder and corresponded with photographers from all over the world “by numbers”.

Various books and articles have been published about Ramón Caamaño’s work. He even paid for the first ones – a book of postcards and an album of portraits, which are long since sold out. Local historian Xan Fernández Carrera wrote a biography in 1999 – “Ramón Caamaño, Historia Viva da Costa da Morte” (Ramón Caamaño, the living history of Death Coast), in which he reflects the whole life of this illustrious photographer.

#The photo of Ramón Caamaño is asigned by Chete Pose González. 

López Abente, the poet of the sea

Muxía has never forgotten Gonzalo López Abente (1978 -1963), born in the town and related through his mother’s family to the bard from Bergantiños, Eduardo Pondal Abente. Among his peers in the Irmandades da Fala (a Galician political and social movement) he was known as the “poet of the sea”. In fact, one of his best-known poems is called “My sea”.

On the way in to Muxía is a monument that was unveiled in 1971, when the Day of Galician Literature was devoted to López Abente. There is a plaque in the Cabo da Grixa Square commemorating the poet’s birthplace, and on Virxe da Barca Street, the house where he lived is identified by a stone on the pavement. A little further on (As Beiras house) you will find the Gonzalo López Abente Foundation, created to keep his memory alive. There is also a literary route.

Location

Address

Ramón Caamaño House Museum

Matadoiro Street, 12. Muxía, A Coruña

Address

Gonzalo López Abente Foundation. As Beiras House

Virxe da Barca Street, 49. Muxía, A Coruña