Cudillero, Built into the Hillside

Cudillero harbour and colourful hillside houses in warm evening light, Asturias

Cudillero, Built into the Hillside

On Spain’s northern coast, Cudillero rises between green hills and the Cantabrian Sea. White and brightly painted houses gather around its harbour, climbing the slopes in overlapping tiers.

This fishing village in Asturias has a shape that stays with you: an amphitheatre of façades, terracotta roofs and narrow passages, with the water at its centre.

Colourful houses rising above the harbour in Cudillero, Asturias

A village that grew upwards

With little level ground beside the harbour, Cudillero’s houses follow the contours of the hillside. Streets turn into steps, roofs overlap and each change in height reveals a different view.

From the waterfront, the village reads as a whole. Further up, its character lies in smaller details: painted window frames, stone walls and glimpses of the sea between buildings.

Macarena walking through the streets of Cudillero

The village of the pixuetos

Cudillero’s maritime identity lives in its local speech, pixueto, and in traditions passed between generations. Each 29 June, L’Amuravela brings that voice to the harbour: a humorous verse account of the year, addressed to San Pedro.

Walking through the streets, the story becomes more intimate. Houses, shops and daily conversations give the village a life beyond its familiar view from the water.

A coffee and an open book overlooking the harbour in Cudillero

What we carry home

A coffee beside the harbour offers time to notice the colours: deep green slopes, faded blue woodwork, warm stone and the changing surface of the sea.

For Macarena de Alba, these combinations are part of discovering Spain. They offer ideas for colour, texture and the rhythm of a printed motif — impressions gathered while walking, then carried home.