Asturias is a place of mossy silence and ocean light, where mountains rise suddenly from the sea. The culture and landscape of the region are deeply intertwined – its ancient rivers are still used to chill bottles of the famed local cider on warm summer days.
For much of the world, Asturias remains a mystery, but in the Spanish imagination it is very much alive. Traces of the region’s Celtic heritage echo in its traditions, music and mythology, giving it a distinctive identity. The northern kingdom of Asturias was the only part of what is now Spain to successfully resist the eighth-century Muslim conquest. In 1934, miners here staged an uprising that was crushed in a brutal crackdown that foreshadowed Franco’s dictatorship. Today, the region is cherished as a milder refuge on a peninsula scorched by the climate crisis: one recent poll found that Spaniards consider Asturias the most beloved part of their country.
