The origins of this town may have something to do with whaling. The chapel of the Espíritu Santo in Camelle is mentioned in the 16th c. It belonged to the parish of San Pedro de O Porto, as Camelle did not become an independent parish until 1964.

The few houses that were here in the early 18th c. and the lands surrounding them were owned by the count of Altamira. The town began to prosper at the end of the century, after redeeming the statutory rights that obliged the residents to pay rents to the Altamiras. From then on, the residents could make free use of their lands. Another factor that contributed to the town’s growth was the establishment of the Maritime Salvage Station of Barbeito y Cía, which extracted scrap from sunken ships and also carried out marine salvage activities. There were three fish salting factories and conger drying stations here in the 1920s.

The period of greatest development was in the 1960s and 1970s, when fish and shellfish acquired increasing value in the market. The port facilities were improved and traditional houses were replaced by others built with new materials, which meant a major change to the image of the town.

Man, the German of Camelle.

Camelle is especially famous because of the life and work of Man, a tall, blond, blue-eyed German whose real name was Manfred Gnändinger, who happened to arrive here in 1962 at the age of 26.

After coexisting with the locals in a house loaned by the Baña Heim, a family of German descent on the mother’s side, Man decided to withdraw to the coast, where he built a small hut where he was to remain for the rest of his life. He lived an isolated existence, but at the same time engaged in an intense artistic activity in painting and open-air sculptures, which he left around his hut and in the surroundings. His work matched his artistic philosophy, based on the circle as the origin of everything.

He also changed his eating habits and became a vegetarian, with the idea that one day he would be able to live solely from solar energy, which would allow him to take a crystal sphere and drift in the sea.

The appalling catastrophe of the Prestige mortally wounded him. A man as sensitive to nature as he was would never have been able to overcome such a great ecological disaster. The black tide took over his world and his museum. It was a real torment to live every day with oil dumped by the sea on his home.

Man’s soul grew sick and on 28 December 2002, which curiously enough is the Day of the Holy Innocents, local residents found that he had not taken the bag of food that was left at his door. He was later found dead inside his hut. Man was the first human victim of the Prestige. A wake was held and he was then buried like any other resident of the town, although everyone knew that he was very different.

His life and work gathered renewed force and he remains amongst us as a symbol of spiritual force and commitment to the natural world, opposed to the materialism that dominates the world of today.

He was aware of the importance of his work for coming generations and was concerned for its future. He drew up a will and bequeathed it the State. It was then transferred to the municipality of Camariñas. In his honour, the Man de Camelle Museum was built in the port area, where some of his work is on display, and what remained of his home was rehabilitated in 2017, where his ashes were deposited the following year.