Candamo, Asturias: municipality guide

Candamo is a municipality in central Asturias, in the Avilés comarca and the Camín Real de la Mesa. Its capital is Grullos. With about 1,900 inhabitants, it stands out for the Peña cave, with the most important Paleolithic rock art ensemble in western Asturias, and for the quality of its strawberries.

The municipality of Candamo highlighted in blue (central Asturias) on the map of Asturias

What to see in Candamo

The Valdés Bazán palace, from the 17th century and a Historic-Artistic Monument, which houses the Peña cave interpretation center, is the municipality’s most outstanding civil building. Visiting it helps understand the historical and archaeological context of the cave before approaching it.

Grullos, the capital of the municipality, on the banks of the Nalón —the longest river in Asturias—, is a peaceful village that retains the flavor of rural Asturias, with manor houses and hórreos dotting its streets.

Grullos, Candamo — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Carmenmoran (CC BY 4.0)

Other places of interest: the Peña de Candamo cave, discovered in 1913, with the most important Paleolithic rock art ensemble in western Asturias; the hórreos of Aces, several decorated with triskele carvings, a symbol of hillfort culture; and the Camín Real de la Mesa, the historic route that crosses the municipality.

The Nalón valley as it passes through Candamo offers a landscape of fertile meadows where the municipality’s famous strawberries are grown, and wooded slopes ideal for hiking. Candamo thus combines heritage, nature and gastronomy just minutes from Avilés and Oviedo.

The Camín Real de la Mesa, which crosses Candamo, was for centuries one of the main communication routes between Asturias and the Castilian plateau, and today it is a cultural itinerary that invites visitors to walk or cycle it, discovering the municipality’s rural heritage along the way. The fertile meadows of the Nalón, famous for their strawberries, complete a landscape that rewards slow travel. Its proximity to both Avilés and Oviedo makes Candamo an easy addition to any itinerary through central Asturias.

Getting there

Candamo is connected by the AS-236 road, which links Grullos with Pravia and connects with the A-8 motorway, and by the AS-237, which connects Avilés with Grado crossing the municipality. The capital, Grullos, is about 20 minutes from Avilés and half an hour from Oviedo, so access is easy both from the coast and from central Asturias.

The municipality of Candamo and its main towns · the capital, Grullos, in gold

Municipality map: data © OpenStreetMap (ODbL). Own rendering, no Google, no cookies.

Festivals and gastronomy

The Strawberry Festival, held on the first weekend of June, is Candamo’s best-known festivity and pays tribute to its star product: Candamo strawberries, of great quality thanks to the Nalón meadows. On the last Sunday of May comes the Jira de El Campu Degollada, a countryside pilgrimage, and in Aces the Chestnut Festival is held. At the table, besides strawberries —fresh or in jams and desserts—, local cuisine offers traditional Asturian dishes: fabada, hearty stews, meats and river fish.