The Award for Exemplary Town of Asturias has become one of the Foundation’s most widespread and best-received activities within the Principality. After the prize went to Valdesoto, a parish in the municipality of Siero, last year, in 2026 the award has been given to The Santa Ana Fishermen’s Guild of Llanes. And as is tradition, one day after the ceremony of the Princess of Asturias Awards, the kings Felipe and Letizia and their daughters Leonor and Sofia will travel to get to know this corner of Asturias.
This award was launched for the first time in 1990 and its monetary endowment is 40,000 euros. Among the thirty candidatures vying to be Pueblo Ejemplar 2026, this fishermen’s guild has been awarded for its work in favor of sustainability, innovation, solidarity, study and the dissemination of fishing culture and efficiency in its management model.
The jury’s minutes also recognized all fishermen’s guilds and their people, symbolized in an institution with medieval origins, committed to the traditional forms of artisanal and inshore fishing and with respect for the sea. The Santa Ana Fishermen’s Guild of Llanes has its origins in the Mareantes de San Nicolás Guild, one of the oldest in Asturias, which brought together the guild of fishermen of the Llanes town since its constitution around the year 1350 and which played a major role in the economic development of the area thanks to whale fishing between the 14th and 17th centuries.
Main tourist attractions
The Santa Ana Fishermen’s Guild is located in Llanes’ port and combines artisanal and sustainable fishing activity with a rich cultural, gastronomic and tourist offering. The rula, designed by architect José Luis Batalla and inaugurated in 2008, features an upper corridor that allows visitors to observe the fish auction live. And the mariner’s tavern El Bálamu, located on the upper floor of the guild’s building, is ideal for sampling fresh local produce with views of the port.
Los reyes de España y sus hijas, visitando Valdesoto en 2025.
Another must-visit are the open days of the Chapel of Santa Ana. Held on notable dates, they have become a unique tourist attraction, offering visitors the opportunity to explore this historic and religious space in a special way. And the guided tours of the port and the guild offer the opportunity to get to know up close the fishing activity, maritime traditions and the history of this beautiful municipality, known as the Pearl of the Eastern Asturias.
And we must not forget the famous maritime route of Princess Leonor, but not the current heir to the throne, rather Leonor of Austria. This historical itinerary takes visitors back to 16th-century Llanes, following the steps of the eldest daughter of Philip the Handsome and Juana la Loca, who arrived in Llanes at 18 accompanied by her brother Charles of Ghent, future King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor.
The Visit of the Royal Family to Llanes
The tour of the kings of Spain and their daughters around Llanes this Saturday, October 24, will begin at Sablón Beach, where they will greet the authorities, members of the board of directors of the awarded guild and members of the municipal corporation. They will then attend a traditional dance performance and visit the Ballota canning factory and the fishing port before heading to the port’s dry marina for the institutional act, which will close with a speech by Princess Leonor.
Felipe y Letizia, during their visit to Llanes in 2004.
In this manner, Kings Felipe and Letizia will again visit Llanes 22 years after they attended in this Asturian municipality a very special event: the wedding of Jesús Ortiz and Ana Togores. It was June 24, 2004 when the then still Princes of Asturias attended the ceremony held for about 80 guests at the La Arquera rural hotel.
Although Jesús Ortiz and Ana Togores had married civilly in Madrid in March of that year, the father of Letizia and his second wife decided to postpone the banquet and the family party in Asturias until the princes returned from their honeymoon. That appointment marked the couple’s first visit to Asturias after their wedding at the Cathedral of the Almudena in May 2004.
