Destination Weddings in Asturias

Contemporary Spain’s most famous bride comes from the region of Asturias. In 2004 Leticia Ortiz married crown prince Felipe. He just so happens to bear the title Prince of Asturias too. Getting married in Spain for them was a huge and regal event in Madrid. In any other circumstances they would doubtless have been delighted to get married in Asturias.

Called a ‘natural paradise’ Asturias has some of the most beautiful rural scenery in the whole of Europe and a rich variety of undisturbed natural habitats provide for an extraordinary diversity of fauna and flora. Someone once described it as a second Switzerland, without the chocolate or the high prices. In amongst the green hills you will find countless rural settlements where a wedding couple might celebrate their big day in rustic surroundings, feasting on rich local produce like fabada (beans and meat dish) and Asturian cider.

On the coast a different habitat no less beautiful than the mountains stretches east and west. Pristine beaches, rugged cliffs and charming small fishing communities look out across the evocative Cantabrian Sea.

The inland capital Oviedo and Gijón on the coast are the main towns in Asturias. Both are rich with the history of a region, which thanks to its imposing natural borders has retained so much of its original robust identity.

Unlike the rest of Spain Asturias was never conquered by the Moors. The fundamental culture is Celtic, evident in the solid architecture (much of it the unique, and technically-advanced-for-its-day Pre-Romanesque Asturian), the boisterous and festive nature of the towns’ and the unpretentious rural and seafood cuisine. Like the Scots they even have their own bagpipe tradition.

Whatever you choose, be it a rural setting or the vigour of the towns in Asturias, you will find a stage beautifully set for an unforgettable destination wedding.