Santa Trega, was declared a National Cultural Heritage Monument in 1939 and is also a Property of Cultural Interest.

From the top of the mountain, you have some marvellous views of, for example, the Río Miño (the natural border between Spain and Portugal), Caminha (a Portuguese village) or of the Atlantic Ocean.

At the mouth of the Río Miño, you can see the island of A Ilha Ínsua, which belongs to Portugal. It houses a building that dates from the XVth century. It was a convent until it became a military fort a century later.

If you look north, you have a beautiful panoramic view over the coast of A Guarda and of Monte Torroso which shelters the fishing village.

Once you have taken in all these views, go back down the route you came up on and stop to explore the Castro de Santa Tecla, one of the most well-known and emblematic ‘castros’ (iron age fortified settlements) of Galicia.

Thanks to the good state of conservation of this fortified village, you have a rough idea of what they were originally like and how the houses were distributed in these settlements.

The Castro de Santa Trega is a rather large, fortified village, where you can easily identify the streets and houses. Although they are no longer intact, you can clearly see where they once stood. Actually, there are two that have been restored, which really helps to imagine how life was in these settlements.

If you have the chance to visit Santa Tecla… don’t think twice about it! It is a magical place where history, culture and nature exist all together.

Keep in mind that, at least when I went there, it isn’t free of charge to go up the mountain. In any case, the price was practically symbolic and possibly helps towards preserving it so more of us can discover and enjoy it. I only wish more places like this were in such good condition!

Sources:

Galiciamaxica.

Wikipedia.

This question is aimed at tourists to find out their online preferences when deciding on a destination.

Would it help you choose your destination if you could find one of these contents on an accommodation website (hotels, rural hotels, apartments…)?

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Cabrales is perfect for rural tourism, active tourism and natural tourism. You can walk through its lush forests or hike along the desert-like limestone rock of the Picos de Europa, all in the same day. You can do very easy and pleasant routes in this municipality, for example, the famous Senda del Cares, also known as the Garganta Divina (divine gourge), which is a ravine that was formed by a glacier. You can climb the emblematic Picu Arriellu (Naranjo de Bulnes), climb up the renown Torrecerrado, or fish and simply enjoy the gurgling rivers Cares and Casaño…

But Cabrales is not just countryside and amazing natural spots… Cabrales is also history, culture, gastronomy and a perfect combination of all three.

The caves of La Covaciella, El Bosque and Los Canes, with their prehistoric cave paintings, are the first signs of inhabitants of these lands.

There are also traces of the Roman settlement that there was in Cabrales, and you can still see part of the Roman road that led up to the top of Caoro, leading on to Sotres and Aliva, there it divides and leads to Liébana and Valdeón. The Way of Caoro, (“La Senda del Caoro”), was built by the Romans to transport the precious minerals mined in Cabrales.

Of course, we can’t end without mentioning the famous Queso Cabrales – the local gastronomic product par excellence of the municipality. This cheese is a clear example of the combination of history, culture and tradition, given that it still maintains to this day its original essence and artisan production. When it first appeared is not exactly known, but it is mentioned in documents dating from the 17^th century.

If you want to learn more about this municipality, its inhabitants and try the Queso Cabrales, go and visit it at any time of the year. But if you like food fairs and shows, the last Sunday of August might be the best time to enjoy a great day out in the country amongst the kind people of Arenas de Cabrales, and where the Certamen de Queso Cabrales (the Cabrales cheese show) takes place.

The route is 15km long and starts at the Escuela Asturiana de Piragüismo (Asturian Canoeing School), and ends in Llovio (Ribadesella) under the bridge of FEVE.

The first part of the route of 10km, which is not part of the race, serves as a warm-up and which participants can enjoy this wonderful river. After they regroup and rest, the canoeists have to race the last 5km, each fighting to reach the goal they have set themselves before they set off from home; after all, it’s all about having fun and finishing the route whenever they do, but definitely reaching the finish line. The slogan says it all: GANA QUIEN BAJA (you’re the winner if you descend the river).

All along the River Sella, family and friends cheer on the sportsmen and women from the river banks during the descent. The gurgling sound of the water made by rapids and gullies, the vegetation that runs alongside the riverbanks, the songs of birds, will all lend to a wonderful day out in the middle of the countryside.

The River Sella is a salmon river par excellence and you might be able to see salmon, trout, brown trout, otters and a variety of acuatic birds.

For safety reasons, a physically disabled person will ride in a canoe with a person that does not have any physical disabilities who will simply ride to accompany the participant or else the organization can provide someone to accompany the participant, so long as prior notice is given of this circumstance. Two physically disabled people can ride together so long as their degree of disability permits this.

Every year, the companions that ride with the participants are often well-known canoeists.

The Federación de Deportes de Minusválidos Físicos del Principado de Asturias (FEDEMA), (Principality of Asturias Sports Federation of the Physically Disabled), has organised this event since 1994, and has long been involved in the social inclusion of the physically disabled through adapted sports.

The entire route runs through the National Park of the Picos de Europa, where you’ll find rocky paths, forests and meadows.

We begin our adventure in Moferos, 4km from Covagadonga on the road that will take us to the Lakes of Covadonga.
The first stretch is a uphill to the Sierra de Porciles along easy and rocky paths, which at certain points run through forests, where you’ll find cabins used by shepherds and from where you’ll have spectacular views over the Picos de Europa.

Once you have reached the top of the hill to the sierra, you will then start the walk downhill until you reach the signpost which indicates the way to various routes; take the path to the right, indicated as “Orandi” until you reach the Río Las Mestas, where you can take a break to take in the beautiful countryside and bubbling river.

Set off again and follow the stream until Vega de Orandi, a beautiful meadow where you might like to rest and eat while enjoying the peace and tranquility of the surroundings and gurgling river.
This meadow is made up of two fields; I recommend you stop on the last one, at the end of it and right next to the river. That’s what we did, and we had the surprise of seeing a fabulous natural phenomenon: the water of the Río Las Mestas is swallowed up by a gigantic limestone rock.

Once we had something to eat and had a rest, we set off again but not before having explored the rocky cavern where the water had flowed into and disappeared. We found there was light at the other end and then realised that at the other end is the Cave of Covadonga. Of course, we also realised that the water that was swallowed up by the rocks in the Vega de Orandi here ended up as the waterfall that flows under the Cave of Covadonga.

After this surprise, we set off on the last stretch of the route. We walked through the forest, surrounded by indigenous trees and dreamy spots, until we reached our final destination: Covadonga.

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One of the most important tools, perhaps the most important to achieve this contact, is videos.

• The human being remembers 50% of what he sees and listens to at the same time.

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• New and interesting traffic is directed to your site with videos, given that any video with keywords has a higher chance of appearing in the first few pages of search results than any text page.

• This multimedia content is very easy to disseminate and share, and thereby reaching an infinite number of users.
• A video is much more convenient for tourists, because with just one visitor-friendly video, they have all the information they need about the place to spend their holidays.

For all these reasons, Turismo Natural offers you the possibility to:

• have a professional and tailor-made video of your company. Example.
• Embed the videos which we have produced and which we will continue to produce on various tourist spots around Spain, on your own website for just 15€ a month (VAT not included).

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By making changes in our videos, we have managed to achieve:

• Faster surfing on our site.
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• You can now find our videos with Google.

As you can see, Turismo Natural, apart from offering higher speeds, we also offer better quality. If you want to view a video which you could not watch properly in the past because it was slow to load, you can enjoy that video now faster and in better quality.

“The success of the tourism industry at the moment is based on the creation and transmission of knowledge, which, to a large extent, depends on the capacity of companies to produce such knowledge. To achieve this, the key is the capacity of tourism companies to innovate.”

“Tourism companies must innovate if they wish to guarantee their survival in the short and long term, that is, they must obtain new products, use new processes or improve aspects of old processes or products.”

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Faced with the current changes and those of the foreseeable future, those sectors that belong to the tourism industry (accommodation, transport, travel agents and distributors, attractions, outdoor activities, restaurants, etc.), will have to adapt to the development and use of new technologies and they will have to make their products stand out (be it for their attributes, design, quality, image, complementary services, etc), if they do not wish to be doomed to a competition based solely on price.

Asturias hides an infinite number of new places for visitors, and all which are interesting for tourists to discover. For example, there is the Municipality of Cabranes, which is rich in nature, culture, arts and crafts, gastronomy…

The capital of Cabranes is Santa Eulalia (Santolaya), set in central-eastern Asturias, in the Cider Region, and shares its borders with the municipalities of: Piloña, Villaviciosa and Nava; the latter two also belong to the Cider Region.

This place has many virtues, but the most emblematic is its natural surroundings. Meadows, valleys and indigenous forests in particular, all which make up a beautiful natural environment that captivates the tourist with its spectacular views.

Cabranes is, almost in its entirety, countryside, which means you can enjoy many sign-posted routes that run through the municipality. From high points, you can see plenty of indigenous forests and mountains that make up this municipality and you can also enjoy amazing panoramic views of the Sierra del Sueve and of the Picos de Europa.

The countryside of this municipality is in perfect harmony with other tourist attractions, such as its history. The buildings blend in with its natural surroundings and create a beautiful and attractive sight. A perfect example is San Julián de Viñón, a temple dating from the transition of the pre-Romanesque to the Romanesque, and which has been declared of Cultural Interest; as well as the many ‘horreos’ (raised granaries) found in the hamlets of Cabranes.

Talking of hamlets, we have to mention one of the most important ones in Cabranes… Torazo, which received the Premio al Pueblo Ejemplar de Asturias en el año 2008 (Prince of Asturias Award for the Exemplary Village of Asturias, 2008).

Finally, after visiting this municipality of the Cider Region, what better way to end our visit but to enjoy its wonderful gastronomy: beans, free-range chicken, smoked hams… but its star products are: Boroña (cured sausage wrapped in corn flour pastry) and Rice Pudding. In fact, each of these products has its own annual contest:

Rice Pudding Festival (a festival of cultural interest): in Santa Eulalia, which takes place on the second Sunday of May.

Boroña Festival: in Torazo, on the first Saturday of June.