Llanes

Human presence in the Llanes area reaches back to the Lower Palaeolithic, with stone remains found at La Riera and the cave of Balmori, and further prehistoric evidence spanning every major period up to the Magdalenian. Iron Age and Roman traces are sparse, though a votive stone dedicated to the goddess Manes has survived.

In the Middle Ages the territory was known as the lands of Aguilar, administered from the castle of Soberrón in the Sierra del Cuera. Alfonso IX likely granted Llanes its founding charter around 1225 to strengthen the region's defences, and Alfonso X later enclosed the town in walls and granted it a new charter. By the 14th and 15th centuries Llanes had between 1,000 and 1,500 inhabitants, a busy port, and trading ships reaching Andalusia, Portugal, France, Flanders, and England. Alfonso XI granted the town two annual fairs and its own salt store. The town passed through several noble hands before returning to the crown under the Catholic Monarchs in 1490. French troops entered Llanes in 1809 during the War of Independence, burning the archive and the Estrada ducal palace. Mid-19th-century emigration to the Americas left a lasting mark on the town's character and architecture.

Llanes and its surrounding area hold a wide range of historic buildings. The Baroque palace of the Count of Vega del Sella, organised around a central courtyard, is now a private museum dedicated to excavations carried out by Ricardo Duque de Estrada, and is listed as a Historic-Artistic Monument. The Torreón de los Posada is a late-medieval civil tower of two storeys in rubble masonry, with dressed stone at the corners and windows.

The church of San Salvador retains two early building phases: a three-storey Romanesque tower and a late Romanesque west doorway with a slightly pointed arch and zigzag hood moulding, notable for its austerity. The ducal palace of the Estrada family, a large Baroque structure with two square corner towers, has been a ruin since the 1809 fire, though its two-level eastern portico of fine stonework still stands. A former Augustinian convent, now a hotel, preserves its original entrance facade and chapel, the latter with Tuscan pilasters, semicircular arches, and a vaulted presbytery.

Notable 20th-century buildings include the Casino Teatro by Juan Álvarez Mendoza, a declared Historic-Artistic Monument, and two indianos houses — the 1906 Casa de los Leones and the 1909 Palacete de Sinforiano Dosal — both in cosmopolitan eclectic style.

From Madrid, take the A-1 towards Burgos, then either the N-623 over the Páramo de Masa and El Escudo passes, or the N-627 and A-67 via Aguilar de Campoo; both routes meet at Torrelavega (Cantabria). From there, follow the N-634/A-8 towards Oviedo, pass Unquera, and exit at junction 302 onto the AS-263 and LLN-7 into the centre of Llanes. Santander airport is 91 km away, in the municipality of Camargo.

The nearest Renfe mainline stations are Gijón and Santander; FEVE narrow-gauge rail also serves Llanes.