Mieres is a municipality 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 ...

, northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, with approximately 38,000 inhabitants. The municipality of Mieres is made up of the capital, Mieres del Camino and the villages of Baíña, Figaredo, Cenera, Loredo, La Peña, La Rebollada, Santullano, Santa Rosa, Seana, Ujo, Urbiés, Valdecuna, Santa Cruz, Ablaña, Turón, Gallegos, Bustiello.

History

Mieres is the heart of the coal mining industry in Spain. The topography of Mieres is mountainous with the greatest population centers being located in the valley along the banks of the Caudal River (''Río Caudal'') valley in the center of Asturias. Before the Spanish Industrial Restructuring Mieres was one of the industrial backbones of Asturias, and hosted 70000 inhabitants in the 1960s. Today Mieres shelters a campus of the

University of Oviedo The University of Oviedo (, Asturian: ''Universidá d'Uviéu'') is a public university in Asturias (Spain). It is the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón and Mieres. History Th ...

and different museums in relation with the

industrial heritage Industrial heritage refers to the physical and intangible legacy of industrialisation, including buildings, machinery, workshops, sites, and landscapes of historical and technological significance. Stefan Berger and Steven High define industrial h ...

. The municipality of Mieres is served by bus routes and the regional rail lines Renfe Feve and

Renfe Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...

Cercanias, connected with

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 ...

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...

, León and Langreo.

Festivals

Mieres’ most popular and important festival St. John's Bonfire (''La Foguera de San Juan'') occurs every June 24's eve, and is highlighted by a huge

bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used for waste disposal or as part of a religious feast, such as Saint John's Eve. Etymology The earliest attestations date to the late 15th century, with the Catholicon Anglicum spelling i ...

, cultural events, dancing, outdoor concerts,

fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

, al fresco dining and drinking. Another important festival is the ''Folixa na Primavera'' in April (Spring Fiesta), which includes dance and music performances from the nine European Celtic regions, food, drink and especially

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...

, (''sidra'').

Politics

Parishes

There are fifteen Parroquia (Spain), parishes: * Baíña * Figaredo * Gallegos * Loredo * Mieres del Camino * La Peña * La Rebollada * Santa Cruz * Santa Rosa * Santullano * Turón * Urbiés * Ujo * Seana * Valdecuna

Notable residents

* Juan Carlos Ablanedo, footballer * Avelino Álvarez, footballer * José Andrés, chef * Vital Aza, author and playwright * María Luisa García, chef, author of the bestselling cookbook of

Asturian cuisine Asturian cuisine refers to the typical dishes and ingredients found in the cuisine of the Asturias region of Spain. Foods Asturias is especially known for its seafood, such as fresh squid, crab, shrimp and sea bass. Salmon are caught in Asturi ...

in history * Innocencio of Mary Immaculate, saint * Jenny, singer and representative of

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcas ...

* Víctor Manuel, singer and songwriter * Nacho Martínez, actor * Xaviel Vilareyo, author

Twin towns

Karviná Karviná (; , ) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Olza (river), Olza River in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. Karviná is known as an industrial city with t ...

, Czech Republic *

San Miguel del Padrón San Miguel del Padrón is one of the 15 municipalities/boroughs (''municipios'' in Spanish) into which the city of Havana, Cuba is divided. It is on Havana's south-eastern outskirts, stretching from Ciudad Mar to Diezmero and from Reparto Mañan ...

, Cuba * Amgala, Western Sahara *

Herstal Herstal (; ), formerly known as Heristal, or Héristal (), is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. It lies along the Meuse river. Herst ...

, Belgium

References

External links

Official website

Mieres del CaminoPipe Band of Mieres "Banda Gaites Villa Mieres"
{{authority control Municipalities in Asturias *