The Nalón Mythological Walk: the trasgu, the cuélebre and the xanas by the river in Langreo

The Nalón Mythological Walk is a stretch of about 700 metres of the riverside path in Langreo, in Sama, with sculptures and paintings of beings from Asturian mythology: the trasgu, the cuélebre by Joaquín Rubio Camín, the xana at the window, the nuberu and the busgosu. It begins after the Puente de La Maquinilla, by the Sanatorio Adaro.

Between Sama and Ciaño, in Langreo, the path along the river Nalón has a stretch full of creatures. There are not many of them and they are not in a museum: a trasgu painted on an electricity pylon, a steel cuélebre rising out of the ground, a xana leaning out of a window. This is the Paseo Mitológico, and it is the simplest way to introduce someone, child or adult, to the beings Asturians once used to explain storms, forests and the water of springs.

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What it is and where

According to Turismo Langreo, the Paseo Mitológico is part of the riverside path along the Nalón and shares stretches with the route of the bridges. It is under a kilometre long: the same website puts it at about 700 metres. Along it there are sculptures and paintings of Asturian mythological beings.

The full riverside path runs along the banks of the Nalón between Sama and Ciaño for 4 km, without a single slope, and most of the way it has a cycle lane alongside. If you want to keep going, it can be extended to Entrialgo, in Laviana, for up to 15 km.

Where it starts and ends

Turismo Langreo describes it like this: coming along the Paseo de los Llerones in Sama, you cross the river on the Puente de La Maquinilla and return to the right bank by the Sanatorio Adaro. That is where the Paseo Mitológico begins. From that bridge you can also see the Puente de los Ingleses; we cover both in what to do in Langreo.

The mythological stretch ends as you enter the district of Ciaño. From there the riverside path continues behind the Pozo María Luisa as far as the Museo de la Minería (MUMI), where the Langreo section ends and San Martín del Rey Aurelio begins.

Who you meet on the way

The order Turismo Langreo gives is this: first a trasgu painted on an electricity pylon greets the walker; then come the sculptures of the cuélebre and the xana de la ventana, the xana at the window; and after that, again on pylons, depictions of xanas, the Serena, the Espumeru, the Nuberu and the Busgosu.

The piece with a known author is the cuélebre. The Turismo Langreo page says it is made of several pieces of weathering steel rising out of the ground and that it is the work of Joaquín Rubio Camín. The Spanish Wikipedia article on Langreo says the same: the Cuélebre, on the mythological riverside path, by the sculptor Joaquín Rubio Camín. The steel pieces breaking through the grass give the idea of a huge serpent diving in and out of the earth.

The cuélebre, the dragon that guards treasure

The dictionary of the Real Academia Española defines it in a single line: a fabulous dragon of Asturian mythology. The tradition gathered by Wikipedia describes it as a winged serpent, its body covered in scales, with bat wings and glowing eyes.

Its main job is guarding treasure, the ayalgues, which in the stories are usually hidden pieces of gold. It lives in forests, caves or springs and makes a bad neighbour: it hisses, frightens people and, in the tales, eats them. Its weak spot is said to be the underside of the neck, the only part without hard scales.

The xana, the trasgu and the rest

The xana, according to Wikipedia, is one of the best-known figures in the folklore of Asturias and León: a fairy who lives by pure water, streams and waterfalls. Sometimes she is a very beautiful woman with long fair hair who combs it by the water; sometimes a small, very dark woman. In some legends she swaps a baby for one of her own children, the xaninos, so that a human mother will raise it.

The trasgu is the household sprite. Wikipedia describes him as small, in a smock and a pointed red cap, lame, with a hole in his left hand; mischievous, he gets the blame for noises at night and for things that move from where you left them. The Real Academia dictionary, under «trasgo», sums him up as a goblin.

The nuberu rules the weather: tradition gives him power over clouds and rain, and in Asturias he is pictured as old, grey-bearded and wearing a large hat; so ugly that the popular saying is «más feu qu'el nuberu», uglier than the nuberu. The same being gave its name to a music group from the coalfield, which we write about in Nuberu, two lads from El Entrego.

The busgosu is the creature of the forest, half man and half goat. In one version he is lord of the forest, enemy of woodcutters and hunters; in another, he helps shepherds who get lost. Of the Serena and the Espumeru, Turismo Langreo gives only the names.

Getting there and what to photograph

Without a car, the train line between Gijón and Laviana stops at Sama and Ciañu, according to Turismo Langreo; we explain how to use it in the Nalón valley without a car. Being flat and with a cycle lane, the walk works well with a pushchair or by bike.

For photos, the trasgu on the pylon marks the start of the stretch, and the weathering-steel cuélebre, rust-coloured against the grass, is the picture people take most.

Checked

Route, length, figures and the author of the cuélebre checked in October 2026 on Turismo Langreo (pages Paseo mitológico, Paseo Fluvial junto al río Nalón, Escultura Cuélebre and Cómo llegar) and in the Langreo article of the Spanish Wikipedia. What tradition says about each being, in the dictionary of the Real Academia Española (cuélebre, trasgo) and in the Spanish Wikipedia articles Cuélebre, Xana, Trasgo, Nuberu (mitología) and Busgosu.