Sunday market in Cangas de Onís

Cangas de Onís keeps its Sunday market, with garden produce and local cheeses. According to Turismo Asturias it is the most emblematic and popular market in the Picos de Europa area, and it has been held for more than 200 years on the same site: around the Palaciu Pintu, next to the parish church of Santa María. It is the plan for starting Sunday before going up to Covadonga, and the easiest way to take a cheese home.

What you will find

The main thing is the area's artisan cheeses: Cabrales, Gamonéu and Beyos. Alongside, butter, honey, home-produced eggs and whatever the garden yields in each season. It is not all food: the official agenda also mentions traditional basketry, wooden farm tools, hides, ceramics, decoration, clothing and flowers.

The list of stalls changes from week to week and with the time of year, so do not always expect the same. If you are looking for a particular cheese, go round several stalls before deciding, and if you are going to continue sightseeing all day, think about where you will keep it.

Hours and atmosphere

The Turismo Asturias agenda announces it every Sunday from 10:00 to 15:00. More than a place to sell, it is a meeting point: as the agenda itself says, in Cangas Sundays are for "mercaú y vermut" (market and vermouth), a custom that brings together locals and visitors. If you want to eat afterwards, El Molín de la Pedrera is in the centre of the town.

Getting there and parking

The market is right in the centre, a few minutes' walk from the Roman bridge and the Santa Cruz chapel. Arrive mid-morning: with the people heading up to the sanctuary, the car parks in the centre fill up early on Sundays. Entry is free.

Afterwards you can continue to the Covadonga Sanctuary, 8 km away. On days with restricted access to the Lakes, the bus to the Lakes leaves from Cangas de Onís bus station.