Adralés is one of 54

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

Cangas del Narcea Cangas del Narcea is the oldest municipality in the Principality of Asturias in Spain. It is also the largest municipality in Asturias. It is in the southwest of Asturias, on the Asturian border with León. Until 1927, Cangas del Narcea was kno ...

, a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

within the province and

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

, in northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The parish consists of three villages: Adralés, Villar de Adralés and El Altu Santarvás. The village of Adralés is three kilometres southeast of the capital of Cangas del Narcea. The economy of Adralés has always been based primarily on cattle farming. Due to the village's proximity to the town of Cangas del Narcea, farmers from Adralés have always been present at its markets and were even able to supply it with milk, whereas most villages of the municipality only raised cattle for their meat as they were unable to transport or preserve milk. At present most inhabitants of Adralés are retired farmers or young people who work in Cangas. In previous centuries many people emigrated to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

from this area. In fact, "Adrales" is a common surname in the Philippines, originating from this Asturian province. Throughout the 19th century and continuing until the 1970s, Adralés lost most of its population to

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

. Most emigrants made their way to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

as night watchmen. A considerable number emigrated to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, while in the 1960s and 1970s almost every household in the village had sent one of its members to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Notable people

* José Calvo Martínez, secretary general of the Unión de Campesinos Asturianos (Union of Asturian Farmworkers) since 1995 * Aurelio Ordás Rodríguez (1942- ), founder and three-time president of the Asturian Centre in Basel, Switzerland and local director of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

in Basel. Emigrated to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1961 and later to Switzerland. He was also the director of other Spanish immigrant associations in Switzerland. * Daniel Ordás Menéndez (1974- ), son of Aurelio Ordás Rodríguez, lawyer and secretary general of the SSWP in Switzerland from 2001 to 2004; ex-member of the Executive Commission of the Federation of the SSWP in Europe; member of the Federal Committee of the SSWP; founder and president of the Association of Spanish Employers and Freelancers in Switzerland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adrales Parishes in Cangas del Narcea