Santa Ana Fishermen’s Guild (Llanes), Exemplary Town of Asturias Award

Santa Ana Fishermen’s Guild has been granted the 2026 Exemplary Town of Asturias Award, as announced today in Oviedo by the Jury responsible for conferring said Award. 

The Jury for the Award –convened for the thirty-seventh year running by the Princess of Asturias Foundation– was chaired by Francisco Rodríguez García and was composed of Ana Alonso Lorenzo, Cristina Álvarez Mendo, Azahara Cañedo Ramos, María Cardín Blanco, Lucía González Cuesta, Leticia González Menéndez, Juaco López Álvarez, Marlén López Fernández, Judith Naves Morán, Eva Pando Iglesias, Marco de la Rasilla Vives, Rosa Roces García, Ramón Rodríguez Álvarez, Trinidad Rodríguez Díez, Germán Romano Sobrino, Jorge Suárez Díaz and Fernando Delgado Álvarez (as acting secretary).

Santa Ana Fishermen's Guild (Llanes) has its origin in the San Nicolás Seafarers’ Guild, one of the oldest in Asturias, which joined forces with the fishermen’s guild of the town of Llanes following its constitution around the year 1350. The resulting guild was to have great importance in the economic development of the area due to whaling between the 14th and 17th centuries. This grouping of people dedicated to working the sea, which historically included women in various jobs on land such as net menders or street vendors, also carried out religious and welfare activities. For centuries, the San Nicolas Guild funded processions, saints’ feast days, masses and burials of members, and helped the sick, widows, orphans, sailors in transit and shipwrecked people. The guild received its confirmation from the Catholic Monarchs in 1480, the date on which it built its chapel in the Cimadevilla neighbourhood of the town of Llanes. This was expanded in 1661 and is currently in a good state of preservation. Up until the decline of whaling at the end of the 18th century and its complete extinction in the first half of the 19th, the guild, whose hallmarks had been whale hunting, artisanal fishing and maritime trade, had collaborated with the Town Council in the construction of an initial, small dock in the port of Llanes in the mid-16th century and had also contributed, with continuous levies, to the service of the Royal Navy. After the demise of whaling, the fishermen of Llanes maintained their artisanal fishing activity and, in the 1920s, boasted one of the major fleets of steamships in the Principality. 

Currently, the guild maintains traditional fishery practices and has among its priorities the responsible exploitation of species and the fishing grounds, as well as their sustainability. The seaport of the town of Llanes continues to be one of Asturias’ main fishing ports, an achievement that has an impact on the development of tourism and the hospitality sector, in addition to the economic development of the area. The daily auction of catches, highlighted by National Geographic for its commitment to sustainable fishing, the Santa Ana festivities and different gastronomic events, such as the tasting of bluefin tuna, are some of the many promotional activities it carries out. The guild also participates in and organizes various cultural activities, such as the annual Amartumar photography competition, which raises awareness about ocean conservation, and the so-called Princess Sea Route, an educational tour of some of the historic buildings and sites in Llanes that Princess Eleanor of Austria is believed to have visited during a stay in the town in 1517. In 2018, the guild published the book Antiguos mareantes de Llanes [Ancient Seafarers of Llanes], written by historian Antonio Celorio Méndez-Trelles, which chronicles the history and organization of the fishermen’s guild in the town from the 12th through to the 20th centuries. It has also published children’s books to raise awareness about caring for the sea, such as the book Pescando valores [Fishing for Values] (2025) and the book Llanes, gente del mar [People of the Sea], which includes photographs and texts about historical figures and members of the guild.

The guild carries out numerous initiatives related to sustainability and caring for the ocean, such as organizing awareness workshops and beach cleaning days. In June 2020, it signed a collaboration agreement with the “Asociación Vertidos Cero” [Zero Waste Association] for the development of the “Circular Sea”" project, via which vessels remove waste found during fishing activities for subsequent management on land, and is involved in different projects for raising public awareness and promoting the circular economy. It also carries out solidarity initiatives such as donating part of the catch to the neediest families or for the solidarity menus of the Hospitality School, at Llanes state secondary school. To mark the UN’s declaration of 2022 as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries, the Fishermen’s Guild launched a campaign to raise awareness among children about the importance of artisanal fishing in the local economy and sustainability. It also makes a significant effort to publicize its activities and commitments via its website, social media and printed media (posters, brochures, bookmarks and the like). In 2025, it received the Golden Capercaillie Award granted by the Asturian Centre of Madrid for the defence of artisanal fishing and the preservation of local culture.

Throughout the years, the Exemplary Town of Asturias Award has become one of the Foundation’s most wide-ranging and well-received activities within the Principality, as it is intended to award the “town, village, population centre, scenic area or group of people in the Principality of Asturias that has stood out in a notable way in defending and conserving its natural or environmental setting, its historical, cultural or artistic heritage, in initiatives for boosting the economy or in the carrying out of communal works or other such outstanding displays of solidarity.

This award was first convened in 1990, on the tenth anniversary of the Foundation, and is of a different nature and character to the Princess of Asturias Awards. It entails a cash prize of forty thousand euros. It is presented by Her Royal Highness The Princess of Asturias –accompanied by Their Majesties The King and Queen and Her Royal Highness Infanta Sofia– on the day after the Princess of Asturias Awards Ceremony, which is held in Oviedo in the second fortnight of October.