# Gijón - Capital city of the Green Coast (Northern Spain)



## Avientu (Jul 12, 2007)

Gijón (Asturian: Xixón), officially Gijón / Xixón, is a coastal industrial city and its municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias in Spain. Early mediaeval texts mention it as "Gigia". It was an important regional Roman city, although the area has been settled since earliest history. The name was originally applied to a small peninsula presently referred to as Cimadevilla, literally "top of village," between two beaches, one of which has a recreational port today. The main port, one of the largest in the north of Spain, is called "El Musel". Gijón has a growing population of approximately 277,000 (2006).

As part of Atlantic Europe, Gijón has an Atlantic Humid continental climate, with mild temperatures and very high humidity throughout the year. The summers are mild warm, with both overcast and sunny days and winters are moderate with significant rains and wind, although the cold climate of Asturias results in snowfall at sea level.

(from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gijon)


OLD TOWN









































































































































































































ISABEL LA CATÓLICA PARK AREA

Bullring











































































CITY CENTRE




























Railway Museum (reconverted old Railway Station)






















































































































Street Art


























































































































































































































































































NEW DEVELOPMENTS, LEISURE HARBOUR
















































ESPLANADE, SOMIÓ NEIGHBOURHOOD

































































































































Hope you liked it! :wave:


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## fuwei8908166 (Dec 6, 2007)

where?


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## Pairedjam (Jul 19, 2004)

Here.


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## LS Kim (Jun 26, 2006)

Wow! Gorgeous city!


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## lpioe (May 6, 2006)

The old town is lovely.


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## ^Anton^ (Jan 1, 2007)

Well done, it was about time someone dedicated a thread of this quality to Gijón.. congrats for the pics, but, capital city of the Green Coast? since when? :?

I mean, we all love our hometown.... but come on...


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## lynux (Aug 31, 2006)

There is a lovely city, it has a picturesque buildings. :cheers:


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## lynux (Aug 31, 2006)

^Anton^ said:


> but, capital city of the Green Coast? since when? :?


Then, which is the capital city of the Green Coast? Maybe will be in figured sense.


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## ^Anton^ (Jan 1, 2007)

lynux said:


> Then, which is the capital city of the Green Coast? Maybe will be in figured sense.


Actually, since the Green Coast is not an administrative region, there's not such a thing as a capital of that area. 

The thing is, since we're posting in an international forum, I thought the title was misleading and therefore may lead to a wrong interpretation by foreign forumers.

I don't think anyone in Spain would consider Gijón the capital of the Green Coast in any sense... I'm not saying there's a clear candidate, though.

And anyway, it was not my intention to bring controversy to this thread... as I said before, it is a great thread indeed and Gijón was deserving it, I honestly think Avientu did a great job and I thank him for sharing all those pics, as I said, it was about time somebody did this.


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## Avientu (Jul 12, 2007)

Come on guys, never heard of _Gijón, la capital de la Costa Verde_? :nuts:
Is the city`s tourist slogan.

More info on the Green Coast (La Costa Verde): 

http://www.spain.info/TourSpain/Costas+y+Playas/Costas/0/Costa+Verde?language=en


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## Rafael MG (Jul 25, 2007)

Beautiful city.

By the way, how many people speaks asturian? I thought the other languages in Spain besides spanish were only galician, catalan and basque.


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## Avientu (Jul 12, 2007)

^^ These three are the official ones.

Asturian is sadly in decline and is mostly spoken in the rural areas. There have been efforts to revitalize it, but until it doesn't become official it won´t get the status it deserves. :bash:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asturian


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Nice pics of another great city in Northern Spain.

So is Gijon bigger than Oviedo?


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## Stifler (Apr 11, 2006)

Jonesy55 said:


> Nice pics of another great city in Northern Spain.
> 
> So is Gijon bigger than Oviedo?


It's the same than asking somebody from Liverpool if Manchester is bigger . I am more reliable coming from the 3rd Asturian city.

In terms of population of the municipality, Gijón (274,472 inh.) is bigger than Oviedo (214,883 inh.). However, Oviedo has a large influence (and proximity) with other municipalities like Siero (50,000 inh.) and is the regional capital.

Great pics Avientu. Besides the lovely city centre (Cimadevilla is awesome), Gijon has been able to transform some degraded areas like Poniente. The future seems bright after you bury the railways and build some skyscrapers.


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## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

Thanks, I saw an article last week about the new Oscar Niemeyer arts centre development in Aviles in a British newspaper.

Here's the link if you are interested.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3231227.ece


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## Stifler (Apr 11, 2006)

Wow! Thanks a lot! 

It appeared as well in the largest Spanish newspaper. I wish I am young enough to see it finished. hno: A lot of international summits, press articles, publicitary events... but we won't see the construction begins until next March. We really need an urbanism effect à la Bilbao to end up with our industrial past.


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## samba_man (Dec 26, 2004)

Very beaultiful and colorful city, with lots of gems !


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## ^Anton^ (Jan 1, 2007)

Stifler said:


> It's the same than asking somebody from Liverpool if Manchester is bigger . I am more reliable coming from the 3rd Asturian city.
> 
> In terms of population of the municipality, Gijón (274,472 inh.) is bigger than Oviedo (214,883 inh.). However, Oviedo has a large influence (and proximity) with other municipalities like Siero (50,000 inh.) and is the regional capital.
> 
> Great pics Avientu. Besides the lovely city centre (Cimadevilla is awesome), Gijon has been able to transform some degraded areas like Poniente. The future seems bright after you bury the railways and build some skyscrapers.


Ehhhr... I'm not originally from Oviedo, actually, I'm not even from Asturias! I just happen to live here cos of my studies... hehe, but it's a fact that Gijón is bigger than Oviedo, though the latter is the capital of the Principalty of Asturias.

Btw, I recently read in a newspaper that Oviedo had reached 220,000 inh. thanks to the expansion of its Northern suburbs.

I'd like to say as well that I agree with Stifler concerning the succesful transformation of former degraded areas in the city, Gijón has indeed managed to turn itself into a truly liveable and attractive city.


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## Andros (Sep 12, 2002)

Rafael BH said:


> Beautiful city.
> 
> By the way, how many people speaks asturian? I thought the other languages in Spain besides spanish were only galician, catalan and basque.


Spanish, galician, catalan, basque, asturian (or asturian-leonese) and aragonese are the most important languages. There are other small languages like "xalimiegu" in Extremadura, "aranés" (occitan) in Cataluña, "tamazight" in Ceuta...
We have a thread to learn asturian in the astur-cantabrian forum: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=455279
I speak asturian, but english... no very well :lol:


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## Andros (Sep 12, 2002)

The future of Xixón:


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2007)

Beautiful city  Thanks for sharing your pics


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## Rafael MG (Jul 25, 2007)

Andros said:


> Spanish, galician, catalan, basque, asturian (or asturian-leonese) and aragonese are the most important languages. There are other small languages like "xalimiegu" in Extremadura, "aranés" (occitan) in Cataluña, "tamazight" in Ceuta...
> We have a thread to learn asturian in the astur-cantabrian forum: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=455279
> I speak asturian, but english... no very well :lol:



Thanks Andros,

It´s really impressive how diversified is Spain when it comes to languages!

I´ll try to learn a little bit of asturian.

By the way, is there something like that in the galician forum, cause it seems so much with portuguese that I think it would be easier to learn.


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## Andros (Sep 12, 2002)

Yes Rafael, galician and portuguese are very similar languages. Asturian is speaked in the NE of Portugal too and they use a spelling rules similar to de ones used for portuguese. The asturian dialect of Portugal is called *mirandés* (http://mirandes.no.sapo.pt/).


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## Bostonscapes (May 4, 2008)

Your city is gorgeous, Avientu. Lovely photos, I've really enjoyed looking at them. Thank you!

And thanks also for the comment you left on my thread.

Fénix 
Bostonscapes - a photo blog and
Boston Neighborhoods by Fénix


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## Bostonscapes (May 4, 2008)

I almost forgot about your question!

Yes, you can easily day-trip to Boston from NYC. It's a 4 1/2 hour drive. Many people take a bus (Greyhound) too. However, you won't get to see a lot, even though Boston is a very walkable city; you still would need at least a couple of days to explore it.

But, by all means, a day trip is better than no trip at all. So come visit us, you'll love it!


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Nice pics  the old town is great! :cheers:


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## jock in da pool (Apr 23, 2008)

Very under rated spanish city. :cheers:


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## Ekumenopolis (Feb 2, 2005)

Gijon is just lovely, little but very very beautiful city. Plus, i have a special relationship with that place, unique moments the only time i've been there.


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## mglouis85 (Apr 14, 2008)

great amazing wonderful pictures , i enjoyed a lot looking at them...thnx very much for sharing...


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## wolbol (Apr 7, 2005)

I never heard of this city, but so nice! I will definately visit it once..


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

This thread is quite old, and needs new stuff (pics)


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## Avientu (Jul 12, 2007)

By popular demand... 

Let's recycle!




























[


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## Avientu (Jul 12, 2007)

Moving around






































more to come


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## Avientu (Jul 12, 2007)

Different neighbourhoods outside the city centre

El Coto neighbourhood's cultural centre, library and swimming pool
























La Arena neighbourhood


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## Avientu (Jul 12, 2007)

Random pics of the city centre and surroundings


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## Avientu (Jul 12, 2007)

More pics


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## GEwinnen (Mar 3, 2006)

Beautiful city! I visited Gijon for the World Cup 1982, we had a great time!
What happened to the El Molinon Stadium?
I missed some pictures of the wonderful waterfront, where we spent our time in the bars


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## Avientu (Jul 12, 2007)

I visited my sister in Gijón last week and spent some time wandering around the city. They are random pics of buildings and streetscapes of the city center. Enjoy!


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## l'eau (Jul 7, 2008)

looks really nice:cheers:


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## JoHaN 15 (Apr 11, 2008)

Really nice and historic


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## GEOGARCIA (Dec 28, 2010)

LINDA CIDADE.


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## manrush (May 8, 2008)

Gijon happens to be part of Spain's 7th largest metropolitan area and thus, second in size after Greater Bilbao.


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## Panchito Rey (Mar 4, 2011)

Me encanta Gijón. Estuve en 2009 y sería lindo regresar. Abrazo a la cálida y hermosa España desde Costa Rica.


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