Spend a little time here and you will probably come across all three.

Your bus may say Fisterra. An English travel guide may send you to Finisterre. And somewhere near the lighthouse, Finis Terrae appears again.

So which one is correct?
The short answer is Fisterra. The longer answer is much more interesting.

Start with Fisterra

Today, Fisterra is the official name of both the town and municipality. It is the Galician name, and Galicia has its own language, Galician (galego), alongside Spanish.

Galician law establishes Galician forms as the official forms of place names in Galicia, and the municipality previously registered as Finisterre officially became Fisterra in 1985. That is why Fisterra is the name you will see on road signs, official documents and local institutions.

But that does not make Finisterre wrong. It is simply another part of a much older story.

So which name is actually correct?

The short answer is: both.

Fisterra is the official Galician name and the one used locally today. Finisterre is the Spanish form, and the name many international visitors still know from maps, guidebooks and the Camino.

So if you arrive looking for Finisterre and suddenly find Fisterra written on road signs and local buildings, you have not taken a wrong turn. You are exactly where you intended to be.

The difference is not geographical. It is linguistic.

Where does the name come from?

Both names are connected to the Latin Finis Terrae – literally, “the end of the earth”.

The expression is traditionally associated with this far western corner of Galicia, where land gives way to the Atlantic. For someone standing on the coast centuries ago, with no knowledge of what lay beyond the horizon, the description is easy to understand.

It is also where one of Finisterre’s most enduring identities comes from: the End of the World.

The Romans are often given credit for the name, although the story is more complicated than the neat version repeated in travel guides. The area was inhabited long before Roman rule, and Cape Finisterre was not actually the westernmost point of continental Europe or even of Spain.

Still, Finis Terrae survived. And unlike many good travel stories, this one did not need to be geographically precise to become powerful.

From Finis Terrae to Fisterra

Both names are connected to the Latin Finis Terrae – “the end of the earth”.

The expression became associated with this far western corner of Galicia, where the land meets the Atlantic. Standing here centuries ago, with nothing but ocean beyond the horizon, it is easy to understand why the idea endured.

It also gave Finisterre one of its most persistent identities: the End of the World.

The Romans are often credited with the name, although the history is less tidy than the version repeated in travel guides. People lived here long before Roman rule, and Cape Finisterre is not actually the westernmost point of continental Europe.

The name survived anyway.

Apparently, a good story has never required perfect geography.

How did Fisterra and Finisterre become two names?

Languages change names over time. Finis Terrae evolved through local language into Fisterra, while Finisterre became the Castilian Spanish form.

For many years, Spanish place names were widely used on maps, documents and internationally, which helped make Finisterre the version most visitors recognised. Today, Fisterra is the official Galician name of the municipality.

That is why older maps and international travel material often say Finisterre, while the signs around you say Fisterra.

Then why is this website called Visit Finisterre?

Because people have to find us before we can explain all this.

For many international travellers, Finisterre is still the name they search for, recognise from the Camino and associate with the End of the World. Locally, however, Fisterra is the name you will see and hear.

Visit Finisterre uses the internationally familiar name to help travellers find the place, while using Fisterra where the local context calls for it.

There is no need to choose one and pretend the other does not exist. They are two names for the same place, carrying different parts of its story.

What should you call it?

Keep it simple.

In Galicia: Fisterra
On local signs and official references: Fisterra
In Spanish: Finisterre
When searching internationally: you will encounter both

If you want to follow local usage while you are here, Fisterra is the natural choice.

Nobody will confiscate your coffee for saying Finisterre.