DAY 1: ASTURIAS (LLANES AND PLAYA DE BALLOTA)
After a quick stop in Bilbao for lunch, we make our way due west, out of Basque Country and in the direction of two of Spain’s more rugged and less-explored regions: Asturias and Galicia.
Trying to save a bit of money by avoiding the national highway and its tolls, we wound our way through the regional backroads of Asturias, sandwiched between the Cantabrian mountain range and the Cantabrian Sea.
Historically significant as the place where the Spanish finally turned the tides against the Moorish occupation in the 13th century, modern Asturias is a natural paradise still relatively undiscovered by foreign tourists.
Towering mountains, covered in dense forest and shrouded in clouds, dominate one side of our view. On the other side, the clouds break to give way to unspoiled coastline dotted every dozen or so kilometers with colorful coastal towns. Terracotta-roofed farmhouses filled with apple orchards or livestock fill the landscape in-between.
You might think for a second you were in Central California if not for the Spanish language road signs.
As the sole patch of Spain never conquered by the Muslims, locals proudly claim Asturias as ‘the real Spain: the rest is simply Tierra de Reconquista (reconquered land)’.
Our destination for tonight is the tiny fishing village of Llanes in eastern Asturias, chosen because it looks like a cool place to explore but mostly as part of an attempt to evenly split the time spent in the car over the course of our 3 days in northern Spain. About 30 minutes before we reach Llanes, we decide to make a pitstop to check out one of Asturias’ many beautiful beaches: Playa de Ballota.
Playa de Ballota from above
View from the beach - Playa de Ballota near Llanes
Turning off the main road we descend down a steep dirt road for 10 minutes till we reach the parking lot. After some more climbing down, this time on foot down a winding staircase, we emerge on a secluded white sand beach, facing a roaring sea with high green cliffs on either side.
We lay out our sandcloud blanket and soak up the last few remaining rays of the day, even taking a quick dip in the very cold and very rough sea. If we didn’t already feel like we were in a wild and unspoiled part of Spain from our time on the road, Playa de Ballota drove the point home in a major way.
After the sun abated, we left Playa de Ballota and drove the final stretch to our hotel in Llanes which sat about 10 mins walk from the town’s medieval core and port.
Andrew had picked out a Mexican restaurant to try in town that evening. Mexican may sound like a random cuisine choice for dinner in one the most fertile regions of Spain but
1. we missed Mexican food
2. Llanes and this area of Asturias has an odd Mexican link that made it seem worth exploring
In the 1800s and early 1900s, many Spaniards emigrated to the New World (Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico in particular) in search of a better quality of life and to escape the obligatory military service. A large part of this group of emigres (who later come to be known as ‘Indianos’) came from Asturias - nearly 300,000 in total.
The Indianos returned with vast fortunes made in tobacco, textiles and banking to build large colonial mansions - Palacios de Indianos - which now characterize the area in and around Llanes. Llanes and Mexico are still very much linked and many Mexicans descended from these emigres, return to visit family houses in the area.
This link has also meant the creation of a Mexican food scene in a place where you’d least expect it, servicing locals and tourists alike. We ate at one of these spots, Chibiski, and enjoyed some very serviceable enchiladas, tacos, and margaritas.
We also found some time before dinner to explore Llanes on foot, snapping some photos and getting our first taste of one of Asturias’ charming fishing villages.
Fishing in Llanes
Exploring Llanes before dinner
Llanes Harbor / Town Center
DAY 2: OVIEDO, CUDILLERO AND PRAIA DES CATEDRAIS
Our main goal for day 2 was to make it to Praia das Catedrais (Cathedral Beach) in Galicia. The natural monument is one of the main tourist attractions in this part of Spain, so popular in summertime we had to make a reservation in advance. While the reservation was for the whole day, not a specific time, we had to time our visit with low tide at 6 pm as the beach is inaccessible for more than half the day due to the massive shifts in sea level.
A straight shot drive would take only 2 and a half hours so we had basically a full day to fill. We planned a zigzag route that would allow us to see a bit more of Asturias before we crossed over into Galicia.
One of the many pieces of public art in Oviedo
Stall at Mercado El Fontán
Exploring Old Town Oviedo
Leaving the coast temporarily, we headed inland for Oviedo, the region’s capital and second-largest city. The plan for Oviedo was to get lunch and check out a few local markets. After parking our car, we wandered the pedestrian streets of the city’s old town (which dates back to the 9th century) for a while including a stop at the Mercado El Fontán food market to get a first-hand look at the abundance of local produce the area is known for. After seeing so much delicious food for sale at the markets, we decided to try some for ourselves.
We stumbled upon a tiny cafe “No Te Cortes Con El Jamón Oviedo” run by a man and woman who we guessed from their somewhat frosty interactions were a brother/sister team, not a husband/wife one. Andrew ordered some local meat from one of the giant pork legs hanging in the window, expertly shaved thin in front of us by the female proprietor, while the male co-owner selected and sliced five regional kinds of cheese for a shared plate. This was Spanish lunch done right - quality ingredients, prepared simply.
Following lunch, we steered back towards the coast for our final Asturias destination, Cudillero, which turned out to be the most ‘straight out of a postcard’ of all the idyllic fishing villages we visited in this part of Spain. A ring of colorful houses rises into the hillside above the town square, all overlooking a tiny dock in the bay where the fishing boats pulled up with the fresh catch of the day. We snapped a few pictures on Blair’s camera and moved on more quickly than we would have liked. But low tide time was fast approaching.
Cudillero: our last stop in Asturias before heading into Galicia
We crossed into Galicia and beelined it for Praia das Catedrais.
‘Praia’ not ‘Playa’ you might notice as the name is in Gallego, the local Galician dialect that’s a sort of Spanish/Portuguese hybrid.
When we arrived, it was not exactly typical beach weather, but this was not your typical beach. For one, Galicia is known for its cool and rainy days atypical for Spain (even in summer). But also, this was more of a tourist site you explore than a beach to hang out and chill at. No one was sitting on beach towels relaxing. Everyone (and there were dozens if not hundreds of people here - a bit jarring at first) was wandering the shoreline, taking in the views. We followed suit and despite the crowds, it was a sight to behold.
From down on the beach below, the cliffs rose 30m high, the constant pounding of the sea over time creating these towering walls of slate, like a huge, unreachable (for anyone except maybe a giant) step up onto the land above.
Towering Arches of Praia das Catedrais National Monument
Halfway up the cliff face, you could see the watermark of high tide from earlier that day, an ever-present reminder that your time to explore was limited.
Cliffs at Praia das Catedrais - with Andrew for scale
Praia das Catedrais: walking at low tide
As we walked further into the monument, at numerous points having to wade in knee-deep seawater to get to the next portion, nature’s raw power came into magnificent view.
Skyscraping arches. Sandy corridors through the imposing slate walls. Caves carved into rocky chambers.
It became clear why this place had drawn so many visitors.
We finished up at Praia das Catedrais and headed for our hotel in Barreiros, capping our night with a meal in nearby Foz to try the other thing Galicia is known for besides its temperamental weather: fresh seafood.
Northern Spain had me feeling how the whole fish I was enjoying for dinner must have felt earlier that day: I was hooked!
DAY 3: GALICIA (LUGO, SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, AND THE RÍAS BAIXAS)
For our one full day in Galicia, we had a good amount of ground to cover and lots we wanted to see. We set off from Barreiros and turned away from the coast again towards the city of Lugo, home of the most complete and best-preserved Roman-era city walls in all of Europe.
Outside the ancient Roman walls of Lugo
Built during the latter part of the 3rd century, the walls stretch in a 2,000+ meter circle around the city’s old town. The entire circuit survives intact and stands as a shining example of the military architecture the Roman empire was famous for. You can even walk along the tops of the walls (which we did) on the same cobblestones that on many a day long ago walked Roman soldiers.
Within the walls, we found ourselves some breakfast and took time to visit the Catedral de Santa Maria, a stunning 12th-century structure that combines the best of Gothic, Baroque and Neoclassicist architecture.
Catedral de Santa Maria in Lugo, Spain
From Lugo, we headed southwest for Santiago de Compostela, the alleged burial site of the Biblical apostle St. James and the endpoint of the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, an ancient network of walking paths across Portugal and Spain that still draws more than 300,000 pilgrims each and every year. The entire old town, centered around its landmark 250-foot tall cathedral, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The famous Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the reputed burial place of Saint James the Apostle
We park just outside old town and meander towards the cathedral, looking for a place to enjoy a late lunch. The streets are filled with backpacking pilgrims of all ages and nationalities, big smiles on their faces as they have reached the end of an undoubtedly long journey. We reach the grand plaza on the cathedral’s western side for the best possible view of the towering structure before settling into a delicious lunch a bit further afield from the tourist throngs.
We leave Santiago de Compostela and turn back towards the coast, destined for our hotel within the Rías Baixas, a series of four estuarine inlets in Southwest Galicia. After another hour in the car, we drop our bags and regroup for an hour or two in our charming little room with its third-story view of one of the Rias.
This area of Galicia is known for Albarino wine and fresh seafood and venture back out for dinner in search of both. A short 20-minute drive to the tiny town of O Grove leads us to a no-frills seafood restaurant, Taberna a Laxeira, serving the fresh catch of the day. A middle-aged Galician man with crazy hair and a sunny demeanor greets and serves us while his elderly mother cooks up some of the best seafood you’ll ever have in the back. We order up some shrimps in garlic oil, mussels marinara, and fresh razor clams - and some house Albarino - and enjoy a fantastic meal for less than 50 euros. The seafood is so good we end up ordering a couple of desserts as well, a regional tart and a flan capping an altogether perfect day.
After paying the bill we wander down to the dock to walk off our meal a bit. The lights of the surrounding towns shine in the distance while closer afield the hundreds of fishing boats sit peacefully awaiting the next day’s work.
Black and white photo taken at night on a dock in O Grove, Galicia
