Oscos-Eo

The Oscos-Eo region is one of the seven Biosphere Reserves in Asturias, and this is a positive sign that we are in a territory of well-tended, friendly and sustainable nature. A territory of tranquillity, ideal for hiking and nature activities, where the traveller comes across different landscapes, very green, with sweet valleys and gentle mountains, seasoned with forests and rivers, where the stone, wood and slate of its buildings becomes a metaphor of time standing still.

This Reserve is the only one in Asturias that has a coastline: it overlooks the Bay of Biscay at Castropol, and it is precisely in this municipality where the traveller can enjoy the atmosphere, charm and range of activities of two picturesque fishing villages, Castropol and Figueras. Both are on the banks of the <bRía del Eo and, as well as being charming ports, they offer the possibility of peaceful strolls through their historic centres and river crossings along the Eo, where the crew will come across the unique spectacle of the oyster rafts, a precious delicacy that "tastes like glory" on the tables and tablecloths of the area. The more adventurous can go kayaking, windsurfing, water skiing, etc., all without losing sight of the fact that the surroundings are a privileged place for bird watching or fishing.

Without leaving aquatic matters, this time totally fluvial, the region has unique waterfalls in Asturias, as is the case of Cioyo, in Castropol, or the Seimeira in Santa Eulalia de Oscos. But there is also another element that sets this region apart from the others, and that is that it is a unique area of ethnography and hydraulic and windmills in Spain, such as the Ethnographic Complex of Mazonovo in Santa Eulalia de Oscos, the Ethnographic Complex of Teixóis and the Windmill Museum in Taramundi, and the Casa del Marco in San Martín de Oscos.

Of course, another different note is the great craft potential of the area, especially in Taramundi, with its tradition of knife-making and loom craftsmanship, both activities that occupy a prominent place in the already well-known mecca of rural tourism in Spain, which has a Museum of Cutlery and Loom. In this same region, Santa Eulalia de Oscos, is an emerging destination as a place of traditional crafts, given that nowadays cutlery, clay, jet, loom and blacksmithing are activities that make Santalla, its capital, a real live laboratory of the Asturias of yesteryear.

A paradise for hikers, there are outstanding places such as the Eo river path in San Tirso de Abres or the path of the twelve bridges in Vegadeo, and of course it is a passage for "long distance hikers", that is, pilgrims on the Jacobean Route, who have been crossing this area for centuries, an unavoidable stretch on the coastal Way of St. James - the oldest -, and so there are villages that are very characteristic of Jacobean life such as AAntigua, Solmayor or San Andrés, all in San Tirso de Abres.

Palaces and main houses could not be missing, and this is another outstanding feature of this region, which has outstanding examples such as the Palace of Mon, in San Martín de Oscos, the route of the palaces in Vegadeo or the Museum of the Marquis of Sargadelos' Birthplace, in Santa Eulalia de Oscos.

The tourist and cultural panorama of the region is completed by resources such as the Monastic Complex of Santa María in Villanueva de Oscos, its Ecomuseum of Bread, and its gold, iron, copper, lead and zinc mining routes.

In short, an area that lacks nothing: sea and fishing villages, oysters and water sports, birds, waterfalls, ethnographic sites, knives and looms, river paths, palaces and monasteries, pilgrims to Santiago... a natural, ecological, sustainable and pioneering region in rural tourism.

It is the most westerly of Asturias and is made up of seven municipalities: Castropol, San Martín de Oscos, San Tirso de Abres, Santa Eulalia de Oscos, Taramundi, Vegadeo and Villanueva de Oscos.