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Ribadesella
«Ribadesella es famosa por las pinturas de la cueva.»Ribadesella is famous for its cave paintings.
Ribadesella is at the mouth of the Sella, on the eastern coast of Asturias, with the town divided between the port and the beach. Below the hill opens the Tito Bustillo cave, with paintings from fifteen thousand years ago, and the first Sunday in August, the river canoe descent arrives there.
Did you know
Thousands of canoes once a year
Every August, the famous 'Descenso del Sella' ends here, an international canoe competition in which thousands of athletes participate.
How they talk in Ribadesella
«Ribeseya» is the Asturian name of the city. «Sella» is much more than a river: the name enters into sport, fishing and local identity.
prestar
To cause pleasure or satisfaction. Daily use in constructions like «présta-me/prestóme» to say that something is liked or has given pleasure.
Everyday life in Ribadesella
Il «Descenso del Sella» di agosto
Thousands of canoes go down the river for twenty kilometres to the sea, with people on the banks and a train that follows the race: it is the festival that fills the town, and you sleep wherever you can.
«Bajan miles de piraguas.» — Thousands of canoes go down.
La grotta di Tito Bustillo
The paintings from fourteen thousand years ago are visited with limited capacity, under the hill in the middle of the town: places are booked weeks in advance and they close in winter.
«Hay que reservar con semanas.» — You have to book weeks in advance.
La «ría» che si svuota due volte al giorno
The estuary enters the town and at low tide the sand remains: the boats rest on the bottom and people walk where there was water a few hours before.
What to eat in Ribadesella
Caldereta de pescado
Rockfish soup with potatoes and peppers, cooked in a cauldron.
Queso Cabrales
Blue cheese aged in the caves of the Picos de Europa.
Tortos
Fried corn flour fritters, topped with stewed meat and egg.
Festivals in Ribadesella
Descenso Internacional del Sella
the first Saturday in August after the 2nd
Fifteen hundred canoes go down twenty kilometres of river, and the train follows them along the bank full of people shouting.
What to see in Ribadesella
Cueva de Tito Bustillo
A cave with paintings from fifteen thousand years ago, found in 1968 by a group of boys.
Descenso del Sella
The canoe descent from Arriondas, the first Sunday in August, with thousands of boats together.
Paseo de la Grúa
The promenade with the colourful villas of the «indianos», facing the beach.
Playa de Santa Marina
The beach in the middle of the town, closed off by Mount Corberu and the villas.
Where Ribadesella comes from
A painted cave under the houses
Prehistory
Tito Bustillo
A cave with paintings from fifteen thousand years ago, under the town hill.
1270
The fuero
Alfonso X gives it the fuero: the town at the mouth of the Sella is born.
19th century
The «indianos»
Those who return from America build the colourful villas on the promenade.
1930 → today
The Sella
The canoe descent of the Sella, the first Sunday in August, brings tens of thousands of people here.
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