Cangas del Narcea, Asturias: municipality guide

Cangas del Narcea is a municipality in western Asturias, Spain, in the comarca of Narcea, located in the southwest of the Principality. Its capital is the town of Cangas del Narcea. With 11,282 inhabitants and 823.57 km², it is the largest municipality in Asturias, known for the Monastery of Corias, the Muniellos Nature Reserve and its wine.

The municipality of Cangas del Narcea highlighted in green (western Asturias) on the map of Asturias

What to see in Cangas del Narcea

The Collegiate Basilica of Santa María Magdalena, in Baroque style, presides over the historic quarter of the town. Listed as a National Historic-Artistic Monument in 1982 and raised to Basilica in 1992, it is dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, patron saint of the municipality. Its presence marks the religious and festive centre of Cangas del Narcea.

Main façade of the collegiate church of Santa María Magdalena, in Cangas del Narcea — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Xuliu Pombar (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Muniellos forest, the largest oak woodland on the Cantabrian coast, is part of the Muniellos Integral Nature Reserve, included in the Fuentes del Narcea y de Ibias Natural Park. It is one of the best-preserved natural areas in Spain and the great ecological treasure of the municipality.

Muniellos forest, in Cangas del Narcea — Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Javier Pérez (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Monastery of San Juan de Corias, known as the “Asturian Escorial”, is a Historic-Artistic Monument in Herrerian Renaissance style with a large Baroque altarpiece and the Omaña family pantheon. Founded in the 11th century, it now houses the Parador Nacional de Corias. The Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora del Acebo, in the Sierra de los Acebos, is the destination of a busy pilgrimage every 8 September. In the town also stand out the Palacio de Toreno, seat of the Town Council and Historic-Artistic Monument, and the palaces of Omaña, Pambley and the Llano family. And in Llamas del Mouro the traditional handmade black pottery of the municipality survives.

Getting there

The main road is the AS-15, whose Rañadoiro tunnel connects the municipality with the Castilian plateau, while the Narcea corridor connects it with central Asturias. The network is completed by the AS-14, the AS-213 over the Leitariegos pass, the AS-348 and the AS-29. Cangas del Narcea lies about 91 km from Oviedo, 119 km from Gijón and 92 km from Avilés.

The municipality of Cangas del Narcea and its main towns · the capital, Cangas del Narcea, in gold

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

Festivals and gastronomy

The main festivities are El Carmen and La Magdalena, from 14 to 22 July, declared of Regional Tourist Interest and famous for “La Descarga”, with thousands of rockets launched in just a few minutes. Also celebrated are the pilgrimage of Nuestra Señora del Acebo (8 September), the Fiesta de la Vendimia (Grape Harvest Festival), of Tourist Interest of the Principality, Santa Bárbara (4 December, patron saint of miners) and San Tisú at the end of January. On the table, the potaje or caldo de berzas (cabbage stew), Genestoso cheese and Cangas wine rule, the latter with its own designation of origin and a winemaking tradition dating back to the Benedictine monks of Corias in the 11th century.