Introduction
Asturias has some of the most beautiful rural scenery in the whole of Spain.
As
well as spectacular snow topped mountains such as the Picos de Europa,
there are deep valleys, rolling foothills and an outstanding coastline,
much of which is a protected landscape. Situated on the northern coastal
strip of the Iberian Peninsula, the Atlantic Ocean bounds it to the
north and the high Cantabrian mountain range to the South.
The
Picos de Europa are probably the best known mountain range of the area,
but there are many other mountain ranges of outstanding beauty. The
unspoilt Ponga mountain range to the west of the Picos de Europa, and
the much smaller Sueve mountains close to the sea, where the famous
Asturcon ponies still roam freely.
Such a variety of undisturbed natural habitats
from coastal to sub alpine provide for an extraordinary diversity of
fauna and flora, including a wide variety of birds of prey, chamois,
boar, deer, wild horses, wolves and even a small population of brown
bears. The traditional farming practices in the mountain pastures and
the antiquity of these grasslands have resulted in a diversity of plant
life unrivalled in Western Europe today.
This variety of
habitats, high mountains, rolling hills, rivers and sea also makes it
possible to practice many different activities such as walking,
canoeing, bird watching, surfing, potholing, fishing, etc.
