Avilés

Avilés is a post-industrial city in Asturias in northwest Spain. With a population of 76,000 in 2024, it's best known for the Oscar Niemeyer International Cultural Centre. The northwest coast of Spain is indented by rías, river valleys flooded by a combination of sea-level rise and landmass sink. They're deep and sheltered, so they attracted settlement and became ports. Avilés is first documented in 905 AD when it was two small towns divided by an inlet of the ría: Sabugo north side was a fishing village. South was the more prosperous La Villa, with stout walls to protect its mercantile wealth. In the 19th century the inlet was filled in to become Muelle Park, the medieval walls were taken down, and the two towns merged. Although Avilés had early industry through salt and ship-building, it was small-scale. Only in the 20th century did steel, glass and similar smokestack industries arrive; city population burgeoned but its surrounds became ugly and polluted. Towards the end of the century these industries withered, leaving a sad brownfield mess. The city perforce got into new industry such as IT, and also sought a new cultural identity. It took its cue from Bilbao's signature development of the Guggenheim art gallery: here the equivalent is the Oscar Niemeyer Cultural Centre, completed in 2011. The climate of Avilés is dominated by the restless Atlantic and Bay of Biscay. It's cool and wet, seldom below zero or warmer than 30 °C. Pack your rainwear not your beach clothes. Oficina de Turismo is in the old fish market square by the riverside, open daily 10:00-15:00. Aviles.es is the city information portal.

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Avilés is a stopover point on The Camino del Norte. You can reach Santiago de Compostela in 15 days.