Allariz

Allariz was a royal town in the medieval period and declined badly through the twentieth century, with the historic centre emptying and the river polluted by tanneries. From the late 1980s the municipality ran a restoration programme that repaired the granite buildings, cleaned the Arnoia, converted the tanneries into museums and laid out riverside paths and a park, and in 1994 it received the European Prize for Town Planning; it is now cited as a model of small-town regeneration in Spain. The centre has Romanesque churches, narrow lanes and a medieval bridge, and the old leather works house a textile museum and a toy museum. The Arnoia has a river beach and a route of restored watermills.

What you actually see

• The restored granite centre - medieval lanes and buildings repaired from decay.
• The riverside park - the Arnoia cleaned and laid out with paths.
• The tannery museums - textile and toy collections in converted leather works.
• The Romanesque churches - twelfth-century buildings in the old town.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the town holds a well-known international garden festival in summer and an outdoor festival in August. Ourense province is hot in July and August.

Honest expectations

The town is small and seen in a day. Museums keep midday closures and some open only in season. The regeneration is genuine but the result is a quiet provincial town rather than a major destination.

Nearby

Ourense and its thermal pools lie north; the Ribeira Sacra is northeast.