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Climatic variability of the last 3 millennia in NW Iberia has been documented using high-resolution pollen analysis of Vir-18 core, retrieved from the Rı́a de Vigo (42°14.07′N, 8°47.37′W). The depth–age model is based on two accelerator mass spectrometry ¹⁴C dates and three historically dated botanical events in Galicia: the expansion of Juglans and Pinus, as well as the introduction of Eucalyptus. During the last 3000 years, the relative pollen record demonstrates the occurrence of an open deciduous oak forest, indicating a humid and temperate climate in northwestern Iberia. Two-step forest reduction since 975 cal BC suggests climate as the main cause rather than major socio-economic changes documented in historical archives. Absolute pollen influx has been compared with instrumental summer and winter temperatures and tentatively used as a proxy of short (decadal-scale) and low-amplitude (∼1°C …