Asturias · Asturias
Salas
- Province
- Asturias
- Status
- Conjunto Histórico
- Population
- 1,432
- Elevation
- 240 m
Salas is a heritage town in the province of Asturias, Asturias, Spain. It is designated a Conjunto Histórico (Spain's national heritage designation for historic ensembles). Population 1,432 (2024), elevation 240m.
A market town in the green hills of Asturias, sitting below a medieval castle on a Camino route that winds through the valleys west of Oviedo.
Key facts
- Province
- Asturias
- Heritage status
- Conjunto Histórico
- Population
- 1,432 (2024)
- Elevation
- 240 m
History of Salas
People have lived around Salas since the Palaeolithic, leaving scattered stone tools across the municipality. More substantial evidence survives from the megalithic period, burial mounds appear at Sierra de las Traviesas, Terra Riba, La Campa de San Juan, and Penausén. Bronze Age metalwork has also turned up, including a flat bronze axe at Regueru Secu and socketed axes at Álava and Malleza.
A string of Iron Age hillforts is known across the area, though none has been properly excavated. Roman occupation left a more legible mark: extensive gold-mining works at Godán-Ablaneda, Carlés, and El Courío, with hydraulic channels and water tanks to support them, plus the remains of a Roman settlement at Las Murias, Doriga. The first written mention of Salas dates to 896, when the Infante Gonzalo donated the church of San Martín to the bishopric of Oviedo.
The monastery of San Salvador de Cornellana was founded in 1024 and passed to the Cluniac order in 1122, governing the surrounding population until Salas became an independent municipality in 1827. Alfonso X granted Salas its town charter in 1277, formalising the settlement that had grown around a castle originally given by Queen Urraca in 1120. That same year Salas joined a fraternal pact with eight neighbouring councils, meeting at La Espina.
Practical Travel Info
Salas sits 46 km from Oviedo along the A-63. ALSA buses run hourly from Oviedo (alsa.es), taking about an hour via Grado and Cornellana, continuing to La Espina and Tineo, with multiple stops in town. Taxis: +34 679 913607.
The main supermarket is Alimerka at Comandante Antonio Novo Ferreiro 7 (Mon–Sat 09:00–21:30); Día and La Tienda de Jose are smaller options. For food and drink: Casa Pachón at La Campa 4, daily 10:00–23:00; El Molin de Salas at Entrerios 2, Tue 10:30–16:30, Wed–Mon 10:30–23:30; Castillo de Salas Hotel (non-residents welcome) Sun–Thu 12:00–17:00, Fri–Sat 12:00–23:00; Menéndez at Plaza de la Veiga del Rey 30, Mon–Sat 07:30–00:00. Bar La Luciana and El Arco are next to the castle; Uruguay, Covadonga, and Donde Juan are east of the church along Av de Galicia.
As of February 2026, MasMovil, Movistar, and Orange all have 5G coverage; Vodafone has none. Cider is the local drink.
Where to eat in Salas
Ratings & restaurant data from Google.
Gallery
Location
Quick answers
Is Salas worth visiting?▾
A market town in the green hills of Asturias, sitting below a medieval castle on a Camino route that winds through the valleys west of Oviedo.
Why is Salas a heritage town?▾
Salas is officially designated a Conjunto Histórico, Spain's national heritage designation for historic ensembles.
What is the history of Salas?▾
People have lived around Salas since the Palaeolithic, leaving scattered stone tools across the municipality. More substantial evidence survives from the megalithic period, burial mounds appear at Sierra de las Traviesas, Terra Riba, La Campa de San Juan, and Penausén.
Which heritage towns are near Salas?▾
Nearby heritage towns include Grado, Soto de Luiña, Cudillero and San Claudio.
How big is Salas?▾
Salas has a population of about 1,432 (2024), and sits at 240 m above sea level.
Nearby heritage towns
A market town on the Camino de Santiago in Asturias, shaped by Alfonso X and walled against the chaos of medieval lords, with Romanesque churches scattered across its parishes and a street plan that still follows the pilgrim road.
A small Asturian parish on the Camino de Santiago, where a pilgrim hospital and the church of Santa María mark centuries of travellers passing through on their way to Santiago de Compostela.
A compact fishing port on the Asturian coast whose amphitheatre of stacked houses rises steeply above a working harbour, backed by medieval churches, a Gothic port fortress, and one of Spain's most surprising private art collections.
A small Asturian parish where a donated monastery from 1104 left behind a church that survived centuries before the Spanish Civil War reduced it to rubble.
An Asturian port city whose medieval old town, royal charter, Romanesque churches, baroque palaces and all, earned protected status in 1955, and whose waterfront now anchors a striking cultural centre designed by Oscar Niemeyer.
A Camino waypoint on the edge of Oviedo, where a medieval toll bridge, a Romanesque apse, and a baroque pilgrim fountain mark centuries of passage through the Asturian coalfields.
Visiting from a nearby city?
Salas makes a great day trip from:
Last updated 23 July 2026.