Did you know…?
That Gijón is located in Asturias, one of the 17 regions or “comunidades autónomas” in Spain. The dialect is asturiano, which differs from Spanish, particularly in the accordance of nouns and adjectives, the “o” changing to a “u”, the “a” to an “e”, etc.
Spain has five languages, apart from its many dialects: castellano (mostly used, what our students speak), catalán, valenciano, gallego and vasco. The dialects come from the other regions, making the Spanish very hard to understand at times, especially in the south, where they mix the “l”s and “r”s.
When Franco died in 1975, the country was able to gain more liberties, including the maintenance of all 5 languages. This was published in the Constitution of 1978.
The cow, la vaca, is a major symbol of Asturias.
Fabada is an Asturian specialty; a thick stew that consists of beans, ham, chorizo, etc.
The famous drink here is cider, which is poured in a certain way, and has to be drunk in one gulp.
