Pindal Cave, rock art above the cliff at Pimiango

24 minutes east of Llanes, beside Pimiango, almost on the border with Cantabria, there is a cave with its mouth open over the sea. Inside it is a gallery of about 600 metres, of which the first 300 are visited, with paintings and engravings from between 18,000 and 13,000 years ago: bison, horses, a fish and its best-known figure, an engraved mammoth with a mark inside its body. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008, along with the other caves with Palaeolithic art in northern Spain.

What the visit is like

Always with a guide and in a small group. The Principality warns that not all the engravings are easy to see on the visit: some can only be made out by looking at the wall very closely. When they were painted, the sea was several kilometres further away than today, because of the sea level in the last glaciation; the cliff you see on leaving is not the landscape they saw.

Booking, hours and price

It is visited Wednesday to Sunday, and is closed Monday and Tuesday. Booking is essential and only by phone, on 608 175 284, Wednesday to Sunday from 15:00 to 17:00; if there is any incident, it is explained on that number's answerphone. General admission costs €3.13 and the reduced rate €1.62, for children aged 7 to 12, over-65s, large families and holders of the Carné Joven. You pay at the ticket desk and in cash only. Children must be over 7 to enter.

Getting there

By car along the A-8 to the east, as far as Pimiango, in the council of Ribadedeva: about 24 km from Llanes. For rock art with a museum and more time, the Tito Bustillo Rock Art Centre is in Ribadesella.