Santiago de Compostela is a city full of narrow streets and corners in its historic center, so much so that it can seem like a real labyrinth.
In fact, it is home to the narrowest street in Galicia and the second narrowest in Spain.
Compostela was originally a walled city, so the living space was limited.
For this reason, its inhabitants took advantage of every possible centimeter to build houses, which caused the appearance of narrow passages. Many think that this title is held by the ruela de Entrerrúas, a famous alley that joins rúa do Vilar and rúa Nova, two of the busiest streets in the historic area of Compostela and causes visitors to discover it as they wander through the Galician capital.
The ruela de Entrerrúas is so popular that many tourists flock to it to have their photos taken holding the walls on either side.
However, it does not hold the position of narrowest street, with a width of about 90 centimeters.

 

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The winner is the rúa da Oliveira, 70 centimeters wide at one end.
It is at the other end of the old town and joins the rúa da Travesa with the rúa da Virxe de Cerca.
It is a less busy area, which has made it less popular.
This street, if you enter from the rúa da Virxe de Cerca, is quite wide, but as you go along it gets narrower and narrower until you reach the church of Santa María do Camiño. Also, in the rúa da Oliveira is the ruela de Sae se Podes, another very popular spot in Santiago.
The origin of its name comes because it gives access to a dead end square, in the middle of a maze of narrow streets that makes it difficult for a person to get out easily. The narrowest street in Spain is in the village of Urriés, in Zaragoza.
It is known as ‘el Callejón’ and is only 41 centimeters wide, making it a challenge to navigate it.

 

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