As we departed Riaño, we left Castilla y León behind and began our ascent up the mountain ranges that led us into Asturias.

The autonomous community of Asturias is a beautiful region and is known for its national park, Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa, which it shares with Cantabria, its natural cider, and its colourful houses.

This area is also home to what is known as los Indianos. The indianos are the Spaniards (Asturians, Cantabrians and to a lesser extent Basque and Galicia) who between the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century emigrated to America and who later returned to Spain with great fortunes. They are referred to as indianos since Christopher Columbus thought he was sailing to India.

When they returned to Spain with their great wealth they built large, impressive homes and many of these still exist and are retained by family. Most of them are built in a Neo-Classical or Modernist style. The homes are now referred to as los indianos and can be found throughout Northern Spain.

We visited the coastal town of Ribadesella and after lunch, walked along the promenade of Playa de Ribadesella which has many indianos.

The homes are amazing and we loved that they were so well cared for and preserved. They all face the ocean promenade.