Escapada gastronómica de mayo en Pontevedra

Diario de Pontevedra reported on May 15 that A Estrada, in the interior of Pontevedra province, was preparing for the LII Festa do Salmón on Sunday, May 17. The event was presented as one of the biggest gastronomic weekends of the month in Galicia, with tapas, music, fishing-related activities and a large public tasting built around salmon from the Ulla river. The newspaper said organizers expected record participation this year. It also said the town was preparing to distribute more than 5,000 servings during the main day of the festival. ### Which festival was at the center of the weekend in A Estrada? The LII Festa do Salmón de A Estrada was the event highlighted in the coverage, with its main day set for May 17, 2026. Diario de Pontevedra said the celebration began in 1974 as a way to showcase salmon from the Ulla river and has since become one of the established food festivals of the Galician spring calendar. (diariodepontevedra.es) A Estrada was described as a municipality closely linked to a historic salmon river, and the paper said that link remains central to the festival’s identity. The coverage tied the event to the town’s fishing tradition, local hospitality sector and broader tourism push during May. (diariodepontevedra.es) ### What made the 2026 edition stand out? The 2026 edition was expected to set participation records, according to Diario de Pontevedra. The paper said 18 restaurateurs were due to take part in the main public tasting on Sunday, compared with 12 in the previous edition and roughly double the level of many earlier years. (diariodepontevedra.es) The tasting price was set at 4 euros, and the forecast was for between 5,000 and 5,500 servings. Those figures were the clearest indication in the reporting of the scale organizers were planning for the weekend. ### What was on the program besides the main tasting? (diariodepontevedra.es) Diario de Pontevedra said the programming extended across several days rather than a single lunch service. Activities had already started on Friday, May 8, with a salmon tapas route involving 15 hospitality businesses, according to the newspaper’s program listing. (diariodepontevedra.es) The May 17 main day was set to bring the largest crowds into the center of A Estrada, with the public tasting joined by music and street activity. Separate coverage by the newspaper described the broader festival formula as a mix of gastronomy, concerts, folklore, fishing competitions and verbenas. (diariodepontevedra.es) ### How did the festival fit into Pontevedra’s May calendar? Diario de Pontevedra included the Festa do Salmón in its roundup of the main May celebrations across Pontevedra province. That listing placed the A Estrada event alongside other food and local-tradition festivals, including the Festa da Raia in Portonovo, the Festa do Choco in Redondela and the Festa da Troita in Ponte Caldelas. (diariodepontevedra.es) The newspaper said May had opened an especially dense period of gastronomic festivals, romerías and verbenas across the province. Within that schedule, A Estrada’s salmon festival was presented as one of the month’s headline inland gatherings. ### Why was salmon the focus in A Estrada? (diariodepontevedra.es) The Ulla river was identified in the coverage as the historical anchor of the festival. Diario de Pontevedra said the town’s salmon pools and fishing tradition have long formed part of the area’s identity, and that the event was created to highlight one of the comarca’s emblematic natural resources. (diariodepontevedra.es) The festival’s food offer reflected that focus, with salmon appearing in tapas, menus and the large Sunday tasting. The paper said that combination of river heritage, local cuisine and public celebration is what has kept the event in place for more than half a century. (diariodepontevedra.es) The main milestone in the 2026 edition was May 17, when A Estrada was scheduled to host the central tasting with 18 participating restaurateurs and up to 5,500 servings at 4 euros each, according to Diario de Pontevedra’s program coverage. (diariodepontevedra.es) (diariodepontevedra.es)