Nearly 31,000 people visited the castles of Soutomaior and Sobroso during 2020 in spite of the restrictions due to the pandemic
Nearly 31,000 people visited the castles of Soutomaior and Sobroso during last year 2020. The total number of visitors did not reach the nearly 42,000 recorded in 2019. However, as the President of the Deputación de Pontevedra, Carmela Silva, pointed out, the figures were "amazing" considering the difficult situation due to COVID-19, the lockdown at home, restrictions to mobility and other constraints due to the pandemic. In some months of the year, the castles were only visited by the people living in the municipalities where the castles are located.
As regards the Soutomaior Castle, it was visited by more than 20,000 people, more than 6,000 of them between June and August, and 14,000 during the rest of the year. Regarding Sobroso Castle, it recorded 11,000 visits. Nearly 3,500 of them came from June to August; a figure that even exceeded that of the same period in 2019. According to Carmela Silva, this was due, among other reasons, to "the great number of cultural activities held in that period, which attracted many people". Another 7,500 people visited it during the rest of the year. The President of the Deputación de Pontevedra also stressed the "great success" of the decorations, the lights and the activities that took place for the first time this Christmas at the Soutomaior Castle. In this sense, she underlines that, due to the mobility restrictions, only the locals from the village of Soutomaior could access the castle, "and, in spite of this, more than 600 people visited the castle to see the lights".
Carmela Silva highlighted that in 2021 the provincial government will continue to be committed to the castles, with the aim "to turn both historical buildings into major driving forces for culture and tourism in the province", by carrying out several actions, "most of them have already been designed”, she added. An example could be the renovation of the mill at the Soutomaior Castle, “so as it can be open to visitors. We want to keep on providing new contents to the place”. As regards the Sobroso Castle, the museum project is in progress, "and in June or July it will be ready”.
