The Asturian Issue

Asturias endows its green landscape with a scent, and the sea with a transcendent density.
Its almost untouched nature makes Asturias a unique place to preserve traditions that have been passed down almost intact until recent times.
Today, the origin of its name remains a mystery. However, according to Enrique Cabrejas, a researcher in the history of the language, Asturias, in contemporary Spanish, means “estuaries”, i.e. “arms of the sea”. It is an expression whose origin may be Iberian and of Hellenic descent. The term may have been used as early as the Bronze Age and is the result of combining the words “aster” and “rías” – estuaries.
The peoples of the Cantabrian coast have always been resistant to invasion. It was because of their rugged terrain that the Romans and Muslims were unable to subjugate the people. The Asturians had a reputation for bravery. Not many written references have survived to the present day, as the Romans destroyed any source that might predate their arrival and one belonging to Geographica 1 .