Castelo de Santa Cruz is a 16th-century fortress constructed on an islet in the A Coruña estuary in Galicia, built between 1594 and 1595 by General Diego Dasmariñas following the English Armada's attack on the port under Sir Francis Drake. Military engineer Pedro Rodríguez Muñiz designed the fortress to enhance the bay's defensive system. During the 19th century the castle became property of the family of acclaimed writer Emilia Pardo Bazán. In 1989 the Oleiros municipal government purchased the castle, and in 2001 CEIDA, an environmental organization, established a center there providing library resources and exhibition spaces. The site is now accessible via a wooden pedestrian walkway connecting the islet to the mainland.
