Pereiró cemetery launches new family service

Pereiró cemetery in Vigo is about to add something pretty different to the usual funeral routine. The city is finishing a new ecological burial area meant for families who want a quieter, less traditional farewell — one built around ashes, biodegradable urns, and a garden setting instead of the standard niche-or-grave format. That matters because cremation keeps changing what families need from cemeteries, but municipal services usually move slowly. In this case, Vigo has been building the space for months, and now the launch looks close. ### What is the new service, exactly? Basically, Pereiró is getting a “cementerio ecológico” — an ecological cemetery area inside the existing municipal cemetery. The idea is not a whole new cemetery but a dedicated zone where families can gather for a farewell and then bury ashes in biodegradable urns in a landscaped environment. The city has framed it as a different way to say goodbye, not just a new administrative option on a form. (farodevigo.es) ### What will families actually do there? The new area is set up around three uses. One part is for small farewell ceremonies. Another is for burying biodegradable urns. A third is meant for the controlled scattering or placement of ashes in a managed natural setting. So the service changes the sequence families follow — ceremony first, then a more garden-like memorial option, all within Pereiró itself. (farodevigo.es) ### How big is the space? The area being prepared covers around 1,300 square meters. That is large enough to feel like a distinct zone rather than a token patch of landscaping. Earlier project details also put the construction budget at about €136,517, which helps explain why this is a real built-out facility and not just a symbolic relabeling of existing ground. (elespanol.com) ### Why call it ecological? The ecological part comes from both the materials and the layout. Families will be able to use biodegradable urns, and the ashes area is designed as a garden-like environment with planting and controlled burial practices. In other words, the city is trying to make cremation memorials look less like storage and more like a landscaped place for remembrance. (farodevigo.es) ### Why is this happening now? Because the way people use cemeteries is changing. Local reporting around Vigo’s cemetery system has pointed to weaker demand for traditional niches and stronger interest in ash-based memorial options. The city has even signaled that this model could spread to other municipal cemeteries, which suggests Pereiró is a pilot for a broader shift, not a one-off experiment. (metropolitano.gal) ### Does this replace traditional burials? No — it sits alongside them. Vigo’s cemetery service still handles the usual licenses, concessions, niches, plots, crypts, and transfers across its municipal cemeteries. The new ecological area just adds another path for families, especially those choosing cremation and wanting something more personal than a columbarium slot. (atlantico.net) ### Why Pereiró? Pereiró is the obvious place to do this first because it is Vigo’s biggest municipal cemetery and already carries a lot of symbolic weight in the city. It is both an active cemetery and a civic space with historical and cultural visibility, which makes it easier for a new memorial model to be noticed — and normalized. (hoxe.vigo.org) ### So what’s the bottom line? This is a small municipal change, but it says a lot. Vigo is treating the cemetery less as a fixed old system and more as a service that has to match how families mourn now. If the launch at Pereiró works, the bigger story is not one new garden area — it is the possibility that ecological ash burial becomes the default next step in more city cemeteries. (farodevigo.es) (turismodevigo.org)