Situated in the north of the Iberian peninsular, the Asturian
country is a complex space whose mountainous nature has, throughout history,
always exercised a decisive influence upon the life of its populace. Abundant
rainfall favoured by prevailing north-west and westerly winds eroded (apart
from uneven areas at over 1,500 metres) a system of deep valleys jammed
between the Cantabrian mountain chain which forms a natural frontier to
the south, and the line of the coast to the north, with a maximum distance
between these two natural frontiers of 80 km. For this reason, throughout
all of the resulting 10, 565 km2 we find an extraordinarily varied conjunction
of landscapes distinguishable by the nature and age of the natural materials
which form them, and also by the extent of human influence upon them, and
the vertical grading of their respective potential vegetations, all of which
are collectively termed the Asturian massit, which is the northern side
of the westernmost sector of the Cantabrian mountain chain.
From the mountain ranges and interior valleys of the west
to the hme massif of the Picos d'Europa in the east, taking in the great
central water basin , excepting the coastal mountain ranges through to the
terraced ramp of the coast itself, the organisation of the Asturian territory,
its communications, its flows and interchanges adapted themselves to the
great central rivers as these flowed down to the sea.