Mieres

Heart of the Caudal coal basin, now a valley town with a university campus

Mieres makes no secret of its mining heritage. It would be impossible to understand the town if it did. The winding towers, the mining county, the old workshops and the railway lines form part of a landscape that grew up around coal and which still retains a very strong working-class identity. However, to reduce the municipality to its past would be to miss the point. Mieres del Camín boasts a thriving commercial life, cultural activity, bustling squares and a very direct connection to the street. The Plaza de Requejo, the ‘chigres’ (cider bars) and the area around the church of San Juan showcase that everyday side of life, where cider, conversation and local life play just as prominent a role as the major heritage sites.

The industrial heritage allows visitors to explore the municipality by tracing the history of mining. Bustiello is not simply a collection of old buildings, but a settlement planned between the late 19th and early 20th centuries to organise the lives of workers, technicians and their families. In the Turón Valley, the Santa Bárbara Shaft, Espinos and Fortuna help visitors to understand the work carried out underground, the evolution of the mines and the transformation of an entire society. Some of these sites have been repurposed for cultural use, whilst the valley’s old mining track allows visitors to walk or cycle amongst industrial ruins, inhabited settlements and a landscape that has regained much of its vegetation.

Away from the main urban centres, a different side of Mieres emerges. The Cuna and Cenera valleys are home to farmsteads, orchards, chapels, country mansions and small villages that reveal a different relationship with the landscape. The Camín del Salvador crosses the municipality, whilst the walking trails, mountain bike routes and the Cycling Loop allow visitors to explore the hills and valleys without ever losing sight of the mining heritage. Mieres does not seek to become a theme park of nostalgia. Its appeal lies in seeing how a county shaped by hard work draws on its history to build culture, forge new paths and honestly explain its origins.