Espinho, the city of numbered streets
Espinho is known for arte xávega, beach-seine fishing hauled onto the sand and listed as intangible heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. Read on for a 19th-century seaside resort with numbered streets, 8 km of surf beaches, a canning museum and one of Portugal's largest weekly markets.
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Espinho, on the coast south of Porto, was first mentioned as one of the country's main seaside resorts in the second half of the 19th century. The arrival of the northern railway line brought new residents and industries and linked the resort to Portugal's main cities and to Spain. Espinho became a municipality of its own by decree of 17 August 1899, and in 1900 the engineer Bandeira Neiva drew up the town plan that still gives the city its grid of streets known by numbers rather than names. It was raised to city status on 16 June 1973.
Espinho's arte xávega, in which a boat lays a net out at sea and the catch is hauled onto the beach with oxen or tractors, was entered in Portugal's National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2025 under urgent safeguarding. From April to October the fishermen work from the Praia dos Pescadores, where the catch is sorted into lots and auctioned on the sand. The Museu Municipal, housed in a former canning factory, has a permanent exhibition on arte xávega and another on the Brandão, Gomes & C.ª factory, founded in 1894, whose sardine tins sold well in Brazil and which employed about 400 people in its busiest seasons.
The town has 8 km of beaches, with waves for surfing and bodyboarding, and the Ecovia do Litoral seafront path runs north towards Vila Nova de Gaia and Porto and south to the Lagoa de Paramos, a protected area popular for birdwatching. Inland in Paramos, the Castro de Ovil is a small Iron Age settlement from the late 4th or early 3rd century BC, defended by a wide, deep ditch instead of stone walls; visits are arranged through the municipal museum. Every Monday, the Feira de Espinho fills the town as one of the largest weekly markets in Portugal, and CINANIMA, the international animation film festival, is held here.
The craft beer scene in Espinho is still waiting to be discovered. With Vila Nova de Gaia and Porto a short train ride up the coast, travellers can look around the wider Porto area to see what is being poured nearby.
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Frequently asked questions
In 1900 the engineer Bandeira Neiva drew up the town plan that still gives the city its grid of streets known by numbers rather than names. By then Espinho was already one of the country's main seaside resorts, linked by the northern railway line to Portugal's main cities and to Spain.
From April to October the fishermen work from the fishermen's beach, where a boat lays a net out at sea and the catch is hauled onto the sand with oxen or tractors, then sorted into lots and auctioned on the beach. It was listed in 2025 as national intangible heritage under urgent safeguarding.
The town has 8 km of beaches with waves for surfing and bodyboarding, and a seafront path runs north towards Porto and south to a protected lagoon popular for birdwatching. Every Monday, one of the largest weekly markets in Portugal fills the town, and the municipal museum occupies a former canning factory.
Yes. Inland in Paramos lies a small Iron Age settlement from the late 4th or early 3rd century BC, defended by a wide, deep ditch instead of stone walls. Visits are arranged through the municipal museum, which also has permanent exhibitions on arte xávega and on a sardine cannery founded in 1894.