El Descenso de Galiana: The Avilés Street That Floods with Foam Boats

El Descenso de Galiana, the main event of Avilés's Antroxu since 1988, takes place on the Saturday of Antroxu at six in the evening: it sets off from Calle Galiana and finishes at Las Meanas, on the Pista de la Exposición. Contraptions of polystyrene, wood, and wire mesh come down through foam. Avilés is half an hour from Gijón.

Once a year, a street in the centre of Avilés turns into a river of foam, and boats that don't float ride down it. They're handmade contraptions — polystyrene, wood, wire mesh — that make their way through the old town surrounded by people following them, pushing them, or just letting themselves get soaked. This is the Descenso de Galiana, the main event of Avilés's Antroxu — Asturian Carnival — since 1988, and it's one of those things you have to see once to understand how this place has fun. Avilés is half an hour from Gijón, so it fits into an afternoon.

A descent with no river

The name explains almost everything. Participants ride down Calle Galiana on contraptions — boats, essentially — built specially for the occasion, 'sailing' through a sea of foam and water across the historic centre of Avilés. It's a river descent in a city where the actual river is somewhere else entirely.

It's been held since 1988. In 2026 it was the 38th edition, with 35 contraptions entered, which gives some idea of how much work and how many people are behind it: each one is the project of a group of friends, a peña (a local club), or a family that's spent months building it.

What you see, and the route it takes

The descent takes place on the Saturday of Antroxu, at six in the evening. It sets off from Calle Galiana and continues along Calle San Francisco, Plaza de España, La Cámara and Calle José Cueto, finishing at Las Meanas, on the Pista de la Exposición.

The contraptions have their own rules — materials that meet safety standards, a size limit, no flares or dangerous objects — and a jury hands out cash prizes to the most eye-catching. Water used to be thrown from buckets; these days there are foam cannons set up along the route. In 2026, there was also an 'ascenso del descenso' — an 'ascent of the descent' — at midday, with the contraptions running the route in reverse through the centre.

The whole Antroxu, not just the Saturday

The Descenso is the peak of a celebration that runs for days. In 2026, Avilés's Antroxu ran from 10 to 18 February, with the crowning of the Antroxu's king and queen — el Goxu and la Faba — on the Friday, murgas (satirical street bands) on the Monday, the grand parade of the prize-winning contraptions on the Tuesday, and, to close it out, on the Wednesday, the Entierro de la Sardina and the burning of the sardine.

Each year has its own theme; 2026's was 'Las Mil y un Antroxu' ('A Thousand and One Antroxu'), a journey through the desert. There are concerts, parades and costumes all over the city, and the mood is pure street party: people in fancy dress mixed in with everyone else.

How to watch it without regretting it

Wear clothes you don't mind getting wet and watch from a corner rather than the front row, unless you want to end up covered in foam, which is exactly what happens there. It's worth arriving early to grab a spot along the route, and best not to bring anything delicate: phone in a case, camera handled with care.

The date changes every year, since it falls on the Saturday of Antroxu, in February. Check Avilés City Council's programme before you come. For anyone spending the winter in Asturias, it's the answer to what there is to do here in February, and it's a short trip from Gijón or from the Nalón valley, with the added advantage that in February you're not competing for a place to stay.