Page 110 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Spain

108  NOR THERN SP AIN

3 Costa Verde
Asturias. k £ Avilés. @ Oviedo,
Gijón. n Avilés, Calle Ruiz Gomez 21,
985 54 43 25.
The aptly named “green coast” is
a succession of attractive sandy
coves and dramatic cliffs,
punctuated by deep estuaries
and numerous fishing villages.
Inland, there are lush mead ows,
and pine and eucalyptus forests,
backed by mountains. This
stretch of coastline has been
Craftsman making knife blades in a forge at Taramundi less spoiled than most in Spain;
the resorts tend to be modest
1 Taramundi oval and rectangular dwellings, in size, like the hotels.
some of which stand head Two pretty fishing ports,
Asturias. * 670. n Calle Solleiro 14,
985 64 68 77. _ San José (19 Mar). high. Inside can be found Castropol and Figueras, stand by
∑ taramundi.es hollowed-out stones which the eastern shore of the Ría de
are thought to have been Ribadeo, forming the border
Situated in the remote Los used for crushing corn. with Galicia. To the east are
Oscos region, this small village The museum on the site other picturesque villages
houses a rural tourism centre displays many of the finds that such as Tapia de Casariego and
which organizes forest tours in have been unearthed at Castro Ortiguera, in a small rocky cove.
four-wheel drive vehicles and de Coaña. Among the interest- Following the coast, Luarca lies
has several hotels and holiday ing remains on display are pot- beside a church and a quiet
cottages to rent. Taramundi has tery, tools and Roman coins. cemetery on a headland, and
a tradition of wrought-iron has a neat little harbour packed
craftsmanship. Iron ore was with red, blue and white boats.
first mined in the area by the The village of Cudillero is even
Romans. There are approx- more delightful – outdoor
imately 13 forges in and cafés and excellent seafood
around the village, where restaurants crowd the tiny plaza
craftsmen can still be seen beside the port, all of which are
making traditional knives with squeezed into a narrow cove.
decorated wooden handles. Behind, white cottages are
scattered over the steep hillsides.
Environs Further along the coast is the
About 20 km (12 miles) to the rocky headland of Cabo de Peñas
east, at San Martín de Oscos, where, in the fishing village of
there is an 18th-century palace. Candás, bullfights are held on
At Grandas de Salime, 10 km the sand at low tide on 14
(6 miles) further southeast, September. East of Gijón, Lastres
the Museo Etnográfico has is impressively located below a
displays showing local crafts, Circular stone foundations of dwellings at cliff, and Isla has a broad open
traditional life and farming. Castro de Coaña beach. Beyond Ribadesella is the
E Museo Etnográfico
Esquios. Tel 985 62 72 43. The Brown Bear
Open daily. & 7 The population of Spain’s brown
bears (Ursus arctos) has dwind led
from about 1,000 at the beginning of
2 Castro de Coaña the 20th century to about 250 today.
Asturias. @ 5 km (3 miles) from Navia. Hunting by man and the destruction
Tel 985 97 84 01. Open Wed–Sun. of the bear’s natural forest habitat
have caused the decline. But now,
One of the best-preserved pre- protected by nature reserves such
historic sites of the Cantabrian as Somiedo, where most of the
area, Castro de Coaña was later bears in Asturias are found, together
occupied by the Romans. Set on with new conservation laws, this
a hillside in the Navia Valley are magnificent omnivore is increasing One of the remaining bears in the
the remains of its fortifications in numbers again. forests of Asturias
and the stone foundations of
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp562–3 and pp583–4

108-109_EW_Spain.indd 108 26/09/17 11:00 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.1)
Date 5th December 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm