El Franco is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

of the

Principality of Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

. It is bordered on the north by the

Cantabrian Sea The Cantabrian Sea is the term used mostly in Spain to describe the coastal sea of the Atlantic Ocean that borders the northern coast of Spain and the southwest side of the Atlantic coast of France, included in the Bay of Biscay. It extends from ...

, to the west by Tapia, to the south by

Castropol Castropol is a municipality in Asturias, Spain. It is also the name of a Parroquia (Spain), parish within the municipality and a town within the parish. The municipality of Castropol has a population of 3696 (Instituto Nacional de Estadística d ...

and

Boal Boal (Galician-Asturian: ''Bual'') is a municipality, a civil parish and a town in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias (Spain). It borders north with El Franco and Coaña, south with Illano, west with Castropol and east with ...

, and to the east by

Cuaña Cuaña (Galician-Asturian; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Coaña'') is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It lies along the Cantabrian Sea to the north, and is bordered on the south by Boal, on the eas ...

. El Franco is part of the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

of Eo-Navia. The Porcía and Mazo Rivers pass through the municipality.

History

Artifacts from the

Neolithic Age The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...

indicate an early settlement of the region. The remains of

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

s are visible, in Arancedo as well as in neighbouring Coaña and Mohias. In the 18th century, the gold mines, which are still in use, were found near the embankment castle of Arancedo. During the Middle Ages, El Franco was split between the

Lugo Lugo (, ) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 100,060 in 2024, ...

and

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

dioceses, and the administrative capital was in

. In 1852, the administrative seat was moved to El Franco in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of A Caridá. El Franco is the birthplace of Corín Tellado, one of the world's best-selling writers in the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

Demographics

Economy

The top industries are

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

and

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish far ...

. The milk industry had the highest growth, after preventive measures of the EU started to affect the fishing industry. The tourism industry and administrative companies form the second largest sector of the economy and tourism has the biggest growth of the region. Smaller commercial companies and production companies are found predominantly in the small industrial parks of the adjoining municipality.

Politics

Parishes

* Arancedo * A Braña * A Caridá * Llebredo * Miudes * San Xuan de Prendonés/San Juan de Prendonés * Valdepares * Villalmarzo

Points of interest

* Church of Santa María, built on a romanesque foundation, finished in the 18th century * Miudes palace, from the 16th century * Fonfría palace, from the 16th century * Jardón palace * Valdepares tower

Festivals and fairs

* 24 June, San Juan de Prendones in Valdepares * 16 July, el Carmen in Miudes * 2 August, Santo Ángel in Viavélez * From 8 September on, el día de los Remedios

References

External links

Federación Asturiana de Concejos

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franco, El Municipalities in Asturias *