For centuries, Gallego (Galician) farmers have stored crops in horreos. They were common sights in all the coastal regions in northern Spain as well as in northern Portugal. Even today, a lot of farm families still use them, mainly to store corn destined to be fed to their cattle.

Construction materials vary from region to region. Some are all stone, others stone and wood, and still others are all wood. In Galicia, they're normally oblong rectangles. Elsewhere, they may be square. All of them sit atop pedestals of some sort to avoid standing water and discourage rodents.

Horreos in Ambroa Parish
Almost all of the horreos here in Ambroa Parish were originally constructed with stone frames and wooden walls. Over the years, some owners replaced deteriorated wood walls with some other material - usually bricks. A few have been restored to maintain the traditional appearance of rural Galicia. Still others have been neglected and their wooden portions have deteriorated badly.

There are more than a dozen horreos within a couple of miles from us. On July 18th I drove around for about 15 minutes and took pictures of some of them. Here are some samples:
 

The local government has installed several new horreo-shaped bus stop shelters around this and neighboring parishes. That's one of them in the two lower-right pictures, above. As you might imagine, horreos have become an unofficial symbol of Galicia. See the next page for more examples.