Carballal

Carballal is a small locality in the municipality of Santiago de Compostela, in the province of A Coruña, Galicia. Its name derives from carballo, the Galician word for oak, with the suffix -al indicating a grove or concentration of such trees. The toponym preserves the memory of the native carballeira oak woodland that historically covered much of the Galician interior before eucalyptus plantation and agricultural clearance.

The locality sits on the western slopes beyond Santiago on the early stages of the Fisterra route, in terrain where patches of native oak survive among the more recent eucalyptus and pine plantation. The Galician carballeira is an important cultural and ecological symbol in the region.