Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Boal

What to see and do in Boal (Eo-Navia, Asturias): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Boal

Towns near Boal

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What to see in Navia 14 km · 7 places
What to see in Vegadeo 15 km · 3 places
What to see in Pesoz 18 km · 3 places
What to see in Tapia de Casariego 19 km · 4 places

Spain › Principality of Asturias › Eo-Navia › Boal

What to see and do in Boal

Boal
Village
Boal is a municipality of Asturias, with 1,380 inhabitants according to the 2024 register, situated in the middle basin of the river Navia, which is here dammed, first at the Doiras reservoir and, already in the neighbouring municipality of Villayón, at Arbón. It is one of the municipalities of western Asturias where, besides Castilian, Galician-Asturian is spoken, a language whose place names were made official in 2014. Its name probably comes from the Indo-European bod- (stream, ditch) or the Latin bovale (ox), and is interpreted as “dehesa boyal”. Its highest point is La Bobia peak, at 1,201 metres, on the border with Illano and Castropol. The municipality produces around twenty tonnes of honey a year, holds its Feria de la Miel in late October and preserves the traditional Lluita dance.
Hillfort of Pendia
Nature
The Castro de Pendia is a fortified Iron Age settlement located on a rocky promontory beside a meander of the Pendia river, in the concejo of Boal. It was excavated in 1941 under the direction of Antonio García y Bellido and Juan Uría Ríu, who were also responsible for the excavations at the Castro de Coaña, and declared a Monument on 26 January 1981. It is famous for its walls and for two castro saunas with carved slabs, similar to those at Coaña; striking is the disproportion between its powerful fortifications, with a deep defensive ditch, and the small settlement they protected, with barely a dozen huts. It is reached along the Ruta de los Castros, a path that starts from El Mazo and crosses native woodland and depopulated hamlets.
Reservoir of Doiras
Nature
The Doiras reservoir lies in western Asturias, on the Navia river, in the concejo of Boal. Inaugurated in 1934, it holds back 119 cubic hectometres behind a gravity dam ninety metres high; it is the second reservoir built on the Navia, downstream from Salime and upstream from Arbón. Its surface, covering 347 hectares, extends into the concejos of Illano and Pesoz, and it also receives the waters of the Agüeria and Urubio rivers. Its use is chiefly hydroelectric: it feeds the Doiras and Silvón power stations, with an average annual output of 324 GWh, although it is also used for sporting and recreational purposes.
Fair of la Miel de Boal
Activity
Beekeeping has become the most characteristic secondary activity of the concejo of Boal, which holds the Feria de la Miel (Honey Fair) every year in its town, generally on the last weekend of October or the first of November; its first edition was in 1986. Born as an exhibition and sale of bee products with talks on the sector, it has gradually added stalls of craft and food products, a poster competition, bee-themed models for schoolchildren and a competition for dishes made with honey, as well as a skittles tournament, a display of traditional Asturian sports and musical performances. It is held at the municipal sports centre, on the edge of the village. With just over one thousand three hundred inhabitants, Boal received the Asturias Exemplary Village Award in 2014.
Boal honey
Food and drink
Boal has celebrated the Honey Fair since 1986, generally on the last weekend of October, dedicated to this product and to other artisanal and agri-food producers of the concejo, which produces close to twenty tonnes a year of heather and chestnut honey through its beekeeping cooperative. The program includes the sale of honey and local products at the municipal sports centre, talks on beekeeping at the House of Culture, poster and model-making competitions for schoolchildren, and competitions for dishes made with honey, as well as a skittles tournament and displays of traditional Asturian sports. Anyone wishing to learn about the trade up close can visit the House of Beekeeping, in the village of Los Mazos, by arranging an appointment with the town hall.
Cave of el Demo
Nature
A natural cave located next to the settlement of Froseira, in the parish of Doiras (municipality of Boal, Asturias), at about 450 metres of altitude and reached by a steep two-kilometre path. It is the only cave site in western Asturias with prehistoric art: engravings and paintings of animal and human figures dated to the second half of the Bronze Age, between 1500 and 1100 BC, with schematic anthropomorphic and zoomorphic drawings. It was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural del Patrimonio Histórico de Asturias (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) and is included in the Proyecto del Parque Histórico del Navia. Once used as shelter for livestock and as a refuge during the Civil War, it now remains closed to the public.