Town
Llanes is a traditional fishing port, with an active harbour and many notable monuments and traditions; one plaque commemorates the 65 sailors from Llanes who sailed on the three ships it fitted out for the Spanish Armada in 1588 (the Santa Ana, the San Nicolas, and the Santelmo). Parts of the surviving town walls date to 1206. Another plaque commemorates the visit of Emperor Charles V on September 26, 1517, who, when on his way to Valladolid to be crowned King of Castile, stayed for two nights before resuming his journey.
Today, Llanes is still an active fishing port, with its economy boosted by tourism (mostly by visitors from the rest of Spain) in the summer. The town has a good selection of traditional shops and restaurants, both in and around the town, and the zona de copas is lively at night in summer. Three beaches and a spectacular cliff-top walk, the Paseo de San Pedro, add to the coastal atmosphere.
The landmark old Theatre (the Teatro Benevente), built as part of the main bridge over the river, was pulled down in the 1990s, but an exploration of the back streets of the town is always worthwhile, specially the romanic-gothic Basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
Near Llanes is the village of Porrúa, noted for its Ethnographical Museum.
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Famous quotes containing the word town:
“The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“Close to the academy in this town they have erected a sort of gallows for the pupils to practice on. I thought that they might as well hang at once all who need to go through such exercises in so new a country, where there is nothing to hinder their living an outdoor life. Better omit Blair, and take the air.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“They say this town is full of cozenage:
As nimble jugglers that deceive the eye,
Dark-working sorcerers that change the mind,
Soul-killing witches that deform the body,
Disguised cheaters, prating mountebanks,
And many such-like liberties of sin.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)