Green Spain

 

Click on the highlighted area to view details of locations within Asturias.

Bagpipes, Cider drinkers and brilliant green blue seas, empty sand beaches, fantastic sea food and green hills interspersed with fiords of clear mountain water. So it must be Brittany or Ireland?

Wrong – we are describing the coastline of Atlantic Spain!

This green and handsome land stretching from Bilbao to La Coruna about 300 miles, has such a varied landscape from the breathtaking Picos mountains and National Park of Cantabria to the fiord like rivers that flow from the mountains of Galicia to the sea. The region offers such a depth of styles in architecture, landscape and the very people who all retain a mystic celtic connection with Breton and Irish traditions.

Asturias

This is the land of the cider drinker! Also known for folk dancing accompanied by bagpipe music and the awe inspiring Picos de Europa mountain range. The main town is Llanes pronounced “YANIS” which is a busy fishing port and the streets are interspersed with several canals which flow into the main harbour.

Typically Asturian – the town is full of restaurants and syderias which are cider drinkers bars – where to get alcohol into the drink is poured from the bottle held above the head into the glass below the knee– it can get very messy if you miss!

On both sides of the town are lonely beaches although access is far from easy – this may be the reason! Otherwise there is a choice of more accessible ones in the town.

We offer some countryside villas and houses which are all within 2 – 4 kms of fine sandy beaches and offer quality living – but remember they are in the country and some are near farms where work starts early, the cock crows loud and the cows moo!

Our agent speaks English badly - but enough to help you plan your days out and offer advice on the local area.

 

Learn a little Spanish!

To get the best out of your visit you will need to learn some basic Spanish – it is unusual to step into a traditional restaurant or Tapas Bar and find anyone speaking anything except Spanish – of course in expensive establishments and three or four star hotels you will find English speakers available – but it would be a pity to miss out on some of the best meals and cheapest food and drink in Europe.

Food and Drink.

On our visit (September 2002) we ate an appetising three course fixed “menu del dia” meal with a good quality bottle of wine and coffee to follow for an average of 14 euros (around £9) for 2 persons. Trying the same meal in three star hotels and the costs tripled – so clearly it pays to read a Spanish menu.

Seafood tends to be the most popular but there are plenty of other meat dishes although vegetarians may find the going tough apart from tortilla omelettes.

When to go:

Try hard to avoid 1 – 15 August. This is when the hordes from the major Spanish cities descend on the beaches and resorts – the prices go up and the beaches heave with bathers. Apart from these “factory weeks” the region is empty of tourists and it is not hard to find an empty beach or a mountain to yourself.

Places to visit:

Elegant Santander for shopping and expensive eateries (30 minutes). Santilliana de Mar – a perhaps over touristic medieval town which has two Paradors but worthwhile to explore the ancient cobbled streets (1 hour) Nearby Altamira with prehistoric cave painting. The mountains of Hornij which are less than 30 minutes drive into these regions and also the Collados del Ason National Park. You can explore and enjoy the peace of these historic villages that abound here.

You can also visit the famous Guggenheim museum at Bilbao – about 1 hours driving time.