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00:00Come with me on a voyage through Spain.
00:08Buenos dias, mi capitán.
00:10As I reveal the secrets.
00:12What an amazing building.
00:14That is magnificent.
00:15Of places you think you know.
00:17Look at the size of this.
00:19I like it!
00:21And the little known regions.
00:23That is spectacular.
00:25Just waiting to be discovered.
00:27This is very nostalgic for me.
00:29Smell the money.
00:30Ooh.
00:31Suddenly we're on the Riviera.
00:33But I'm inside the barrel.
00:35Together we'll go beyond the hotspots.
00:37Absolutely spectacular.
00:39It's so remote.
00:40Arriba!
00:41Fuerte!
00:42To the places where the magic is made.
00:44You have to love heat and smoke and flame.
00:47Yay!
00:50I can't wait to show you.
00:59Today I'll show you Spain's little explored region of Asturias.
01:04This is Struperb.
01:06Whose unexpected traditions.
01:08Warmest of welcomes.
01:13Hello!
01:14Hello!
01:17And spectacular landscapes.
01:19That is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen.
01:23Embujo!
01:24Will live with me forever.
01:26I may have to stay here until I've lost some weight.
01:29Our journey through Spain continues to a stunning emerald region in its far north.
01:46Where the wild Atlantic meets green sloped valleys and alpine peaks.
01:52That is amazing!
01:58The Spanish keep Asturias to themselves.
02:02Only recently has it drawn visitors from further afield.
02:06The discovery had to come.
02:08As the curious traveler sought a region unlike any other in Spain.
02:16The heir to the throne of Spain is the princess of Asturias.
02:24And this is her principality.
02:27A small enclave on the northern Spanish coast.
02:32So mountainous that in the 8th century its king was able to resist the Muslim invaders
02:40who engulfed nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula.
02:44Spanish people do come here.
02:47And they would tell you that the beaches and the coves and the green slopes
02:52are amongst their favorite places to holiday.
02:55But even they rarely penetrate the places to which I am going to take you.
03:02There are so many sights to see and so many people to meet.
03:06Travel with me.
03:11Asturias is marked out from the rest of Spain by the stunning Cantabrian Mountains.
03:17Whilst much of the mainland swelters during the hot summer months,
03:21here there is a wonderfully mild climate making it comfortable to visit.
03:25The landscape may remind you of Ireland or Scotland, which is apt as the name Asturias stems from the Asturis,
03:36tribes with Celtic ties who resisted the Romans about 2,000 years ago.
03:41To explore all it has to offer will take a few days.
03:46My arrival coincides with a quirky Highland festival.
03:51Two communities come together to cook the best roast lamb you'll ever eat.
03:56Hola Tomás.
03:58Hi Michael.
04:00How are you doing?
04:02My driver Tomás is proudly Asturian.
04:06And his transport looks to be about my vintage.
04:10What a car. Oh my goodness.
04:12A Seat.
04:14And how old is this?
04:1669 years old about this.
04:18Does it have a name?
04:20Humberto.
04:21Humberto.
04:22Humberto is an Italian and an Spanish name.
04:24This is the mix of the Seat.
04:26Tomás, what a beautiful place.
04:27It's amazing.
04:28I'm never tired of seeing this.
04:30Just beautiful.
04:38Our destination is thousands of feet above us.
04:42Wonderful Humberto.
04:44Wonderful. Vamos Humberto.
04:46Hopefully Humberto has the va-va-voom to get us there.
04:52When I was eight years old, I arrived in Madrid at the airport to be met by my uncle.
05:01And he arrived at the airport in a Seat 600 I think.
05:05Wow.
05:07Which was even smaller than this.
05:08You know, this is the typical car of the families of the 60s and 70s.
05:12I had flown on my own.
05:14I have come to Spain for a month to learn Spanish.
05:19And then my uncle turned up.
05:21Two hours late.
05:22Well, this is usual.
05:24It's normal for us.
05:27So, this is very evocative for me, very nostalgic for me.
05:31I'm really glad for that.
05:36When I was a boy, Asturias was renowned as Spain's industrial heartland.
05:40For around two centuries, coal mining shafts were sunk deep beneath the valley floors.
05:47They powered the industrial revolution and employed tens of thousands of miners.
05:53Until the 1970s and 80s, when coal was replaced by oil and gas and the pits gradually closed.
06:00Today, shepherds and villagers share the valleys with mostly Spanish holidaymakers, who come to hike and climb.
06:12Really, Asturias was an industrial region where the work is really hard.
06:17But after the 70s, the 80s, we become in, well, in a natural paradise.
06:24The only time I came to Asturias before, I found it so green.
06:28You have everything here. You have the nature, you have culture.
06:31You have a lot of history. A lot of deep history.
06:35Tomás, then tell me about your passion for Asturias.
06:38It's really difficult to explain because I feel a lot of sentiments about this land.
06:44Tell me a bit in Spanish. What do you feel in Spanish?
06:46Es la tierra de mis antepasados más profundos.
06:50Mis antepasados eran pastores en la montaña.
06:53So, your ancestors were actually shepherds.
06:55They were shepherds from the mountains.
06:57You realise that that was what really mattered to you, these deep roots.
07:02It isn't just about what the place looks like. It isn't just a postcard.
07:05It's what you feel about your roots and your origins. Is that correct?
07:09Thank you so much.
07:10Oh, but that's so beautiful.
07:18Up ahead is the mountain festival.
07:22We're going higher and higher, round and round bends, one switch back after another.
07:29And Humberto is climbing this road like a master.
07:35And our destiny is just there.
07:36It's just there.
07:37Thank you, Humberto.
07:41This is the sort of event that I seek out when I visit somewhere new.
07:46It's an opportunity to discover a landscape and to understand its people.
07:51Everybody is waiting for us.
07:57Tomas.
07:58Well, no.
07:59Thank you so much.
08:00Thanks to you.
08:01Thank you, Humberto.
08:02Enjoy your day.
08:03Enjoy your day.
08:11We are here at about 1,300 metres, more than 4,000 feet.
08:16I can feel it as I've been struggling up the hill that I'm short of breath.
08:20And we're in a meadow that stands between different villages.
08:23And for about 60 years now, the villagers have been coming together to celebrate, to be friendly, and most of all, to eat lamb.
08:38One of the locals, Maria, tells me more.
08:41Well, at the beginning, he was a bearer of birds.
08:45Yes.
08:46He came here with his birds and prepared a bird for his friends.
08:50Yes.
08:51And the next year, he came back to the same feast.
08:54And then, he began to do the feast.
08:56And what are the themes of the feast?
08:58Friends and together with each other.
09:01Because there was always a bit of...
09:04What?
09:05A bit of rivalry.
09:06A bit of rivalry.
09:08A bit of rivalry.
09:09Ah.
09:10But that's how we all are a pig.
09:12What do we do?
09:13We're together to eat lamb.
09:15And how do you live here?
09:17My slogan is, this is the paradise.
09:19Well.
09:20Thank you, Maria España.
09:22Thank you for coming from so far.
09:27Looking around and listening, I get an immediate sense of the place and its community.
09:33From the Pipers celebrating this region's Celtic ties, to the crowd gathered in the Marquis for the Granny and Grandad of the Year awards.
09:46I think the first one is they are choosing.
09:49The Güelo and the Güela.
09:52Remedios has been chosen as the Granny of the Year.
10:02In a world where youth is revered, it's refreshing to see age being honoured like this.
10:09The next prize is a Lifetime Achievement Award for barbecuing.
10:14So this is not just on age, this is on merit and achievement and personality and contribution to the community.
10:23How long have you lived here?
10:2440.
10:2540 years.
10:26Asando.
10:27Asando el Cordero.
10:29It's a very special method, right?
10:32No, this came from the Pampa, Argentina.
10:34Ah, yes?
10:35In 1850, they came and brought this method.
10:39And how do you know?
10:40Exquisite.
10:41All this talk of barbecue is whetting my appetite.
10:49And something tells me I won't go hungry.
10:53On the menu, 60 whole lambs have been split down the middle, staked and roasted over six huge fire pits for up to eight hours.
11:03Hello.
11:04Hello.
11:05Hello.
11:06This is your personal recipe?
11:07Personal recipe, yes.
11:08Yes, yes, yes, yes.
11:09And it looks good, right?
11:11It tastes good.
11:13Yes, very good.
11:15Very nice.
11:16As a six-year-old boy, Jose Alberto learnt the art of grilling lamb over a fire pit from his father.
11:24And this feast is very special for you, right?
11:26Yes, this feast is very special because, well, we have it from small.
11:31We have it with the parents and other people who have been learning from others.
11:36And that's how it goes.
11:38I hope it doesn't end.
11:39This method of barbecue originated on the South American Pampas, where sheep and cattle herders had to satisfy the appetites of the gaucho gangs.
11:52Known as asado al palo, literally grilled meat on a spit, whole carcasses are crucified and splayed over burning embers so that they can be cooked very slowly and be turned and flavoured as they do.
12:07All the lamb pits appear to be identical, but each cook has his own secrets and his own recipes.
12:13And here, they're using a sauce which they call churri-churri.
12:17And the ingredients, of course, are secret.
12:23I cannot tell you how hungry we are.
12:27The queues are building up. People are virtually salivating.
12:32How's it going?
12:34Well, you have to tell the comensales.
12:37Mucho trabajo. Menudo trabajo.
12:44The dedication required to feed the multitude is awe-inspiring.
12:49I'm so impressed by this festival. It isn't done for visitors. It wasn't organised by a tourist board. It just happened because a couple of villages wanted to get together 60 years ago to have a celebration.
13:01And it's turned into all this.
13:03You could imagine that you go to the next valley, the next mountainside, and it will be different again.
13:08And it's lovely to see a place that has its own culture, its own traditions.
13:15And while I was there, where they were roasting the meat, you could see that the generations were getting ready to take over.
13:24It's just perfection.
13:26And I guess that the lamb is going to be just the same.
13:34Superb.
13:38Next, I turn my hand, just a wrist movement, to an essential local tradition.
13:46Asturias, I love you.
13:47And end up in a tight spot.
13:49But I'm inside the barrel.
13:50I'm showing you Spain's unfamiliar northern region of Asturias.
14:08Loved by the Spanish for its mild climate, lush landscape, and Celtic heritage.
14:18You may not have heard of its capital city, Oviedo, nestled between the wild Atlantic Ocean and the rugged interior.
14:27Yet it's played a huge role in Spain's history.
14:31Be sure not to miss it.
14:34The origin story in Spain is the reconquest by the Christians of the land, taking it back from the Muslims.
14:42And Asturias is at the heart of that.
14:45Oviedo, one of the first capitals, this is the place from which the reconquest started.
14:51You can understand that people feel that in their souls, and their pride bursts out of them.
15:00People like Liliana, my guide to the city.
15:03Hey, Michael. Welcome.
15:06Welcome to Asturias.
15:08What a pleasure.
15:09We always kiss each other in Asturias.
15:11Well, indeed. Are you from Asturias?
15:13I am Asturiana.
15:14If I could choose where to be born, I would say Asturias.
15:17As with many Spanish cities, Oviedo's center is well preserved.
15:24With parts of its cathedral dating back to the 8th century.
15:29Inside is a legendary relic that proud locals say dates to the birth of Christian Spain.
15:36Liliana, in 711, there's enormous Muslim invasion from North Africa, conquers nearly all of Spain.
15:48What happens to Asturias?
15:50Asturias was the only region that was never fully conquered.
15:55So we are very proud about it.
15:56Why do you think that this area of all of Spain was not conquered by the Muslims?
16:02This is the most mountainous region.
16:04So it was not easy for the Moorish to come through, right?
16:07And local people knew the area very well.
16:10So let's say they played with advantage.
16:14Legend has it that the first king of Asturias, a warrior called Dom Pelayo,
16:19hiding in caves with just 300 men, defeated the invading Islamic army.
16:28The story goes that they were protected by a victory cross,
16:32that today is safely treasured inside Oviedo Cathedral.
16:37It represents this region's uniquely uninterrupted Christian tradition
16:42and is reproduced on the Asturian flag.
16:45Most of the Asturian ladies, we wear it as a jewel.
16:50It's a symbol of the Christian reconquest because God was there to help us.
16:55For over a thousand years, the Victory Cross has symbolized Christian Spain.
17:03In the years after the end of the Spanish Civil War,
17:07it was used as a propaganda tool by the dictator General Franco,
17:11who carried it through the streets of Oviedo as a symbol of his victory.
17:17Franco enters Oviedo with the cross.
17:19That's right. That was 1942.
17:22Franco, playing a kind of role, he pretended he was like the saviour,
17:27and he brought the cross back.
17:29Because he saw himself as a sort of reincarnation of Pelayo.
17:33Yes. It was a kind of propaganda. He was the saviour somehow.
17:39Liliana, where should we go next?
17:40Come with me and trust me. I'm going to take you to a local treasure.
17:43Vamos.
17:44Vamos.
17:52It's a very different type of treasure.
17:54Every town in Spain has a traditional bakery.
18:00I want to show you one of my favourite places in the world.
18:04It's fantastic. So well preserved.
18:07Hola.
18:09Encantado. Jose Juan de Blas.
18:13I always make room for a visit like this.
18:16And not just for the cake.
18:18Bakeries can tell you a lot about a place and its people.
18:22We are here to try the Carballón.
18:26Carballón.
18:27Carballón.
18:29It's made of puff pastry.
18:31Stuffed with almonds.
18:32One thousand calories.
18:34Right?
18:35This is named after the oak tree.
18:36This is named after the old oak tree, which was a symbol in town.
18:40200 years old, more than 30 metres high.
18:43And that was a meeting place for everyone in Oviedo.
18:47Carballón, meaning great oak,
18:49is also the nickname for the people who live in Oviedo.
18:53For many centuries the tree grew in the centre.
18:56A symbol of the city.
18:58But was felled in 1879 to make way for a new boulevard connecting to the new railway station.
19:05It is commemorated in these pastries.
19:08Mmm.
19:09Mmm.
19:11Mmm.
19:12Riquísimo.
19:13Mmm.
19:14Delicious.
19:15Got a crunchy icing all the way around.
19:17And puff pastry filled with almond in the middle.
19:20Really delicious.
19:21Shall we have one more here?
19:22Yes, please.
19:23Por favor.
19:24Gracias José Juan.
19:26As good as the first.
19:28Maybe better.
19:29In Asturias, I'm quickly learning that people aren't embarrassed to express their local pride.
19:41And to admit a passion for tradition.
19:46Asturias is so beautiful.
19:49You quickly get up into the green mountains and you get these wonderful views.
19:54Every conceivable shade of green.
19:56My next stop is equally surprising.
20:02When we think of Spanish drinks, we might consider Rioja wine, sangria, even cava.
20:09Asturias is known for cider.
20:12More than 45 million litres are produced here every year.
20:1780% of the cider in Spain, and most of it is drunk by the locals.
20:23Hola, Samuel.
20:24Hello.
20:25Good morning.
20:26My name is Michael.
20:27Samuel.
20:29I'm meeting Samuel, one of the region's many producers, most of which are family businesses.
20:36Samuel is the third generation of his.
20:38In this year, we are the anniversary of the year.
20:42We have 100 years.
20:44My grandfather, at that time, did a small production of cider.
20:48And he was a miner.
20:50He worked on a coal mine that was nearby.
20:52He worked a lot.
20:54What role does cider in the Asturian culture play?
20:58I don't understand Asturias withoutanka.
21:00We would not understand Asturias withoutину.
21:04And we, we can hardly understand about Asturias without eitherционas.
21:08Unless the clear sparkling ciders that I have encountered, in Asturias it's cloudy, still and sharp.
21:16And the way it's served is unique.
21:19Salvador came to Asturias as a boy
21:22and is now a competition-winning pourer of cider.
21:26It's a messy business, so I've donned my overalls.
21:30Hola.
21:31Hola, buenos días.
21:33Salvador, soy Michael Portillo.
21:35Muchas gracias.
21:36Os dejo en compañía y manos del,
21:39posiblemente, el mejor escaseador de Siria que hay en Asturias.
21:42Bueno, qué piropo, qué fantástico.
21:44Muchísimas gracias.
21:45Gracias.
21:46Gracias a vosotros.
21:48Vamos a practicar.
21:49¿Qué quieres aprender?
21:50Vamos a practicar.
21:51Sí, sí, sí.
21:52La técnica es muy fácil, es muy sencillo.
21:54Vamos a trabajar la muñeca y observar el vaso.
21:56Luego, con este arriba, movemos esto nada más.
21:59I must only move the wrist.
22:00Yes.
22:01Brazo arriba.
22:03Ahora me centro en el vaso.
22:04Ahora solo hago esto.
22:06Poco a poco, poco a poco.
22:07Poco a poco.
22:08Just a wrist movement.
22:10Believe it or not, this is how ciders served in restaurants
22:14and bars across the region.
22:16You have to girar la muñeca.
22:18The long pour aerates the cider.
22:21There, there, there.
22:23And when it hits the lip of the glass, it opens up, ready to drink.
22:27Ahí, ahí, claro.
22:28Ahí está.
22:29Ahí está.
22:30So, ¿cuántos años llevaste entrenándote?
22:33Llevo 27 años echándote.
22:3627 years.
22:37Muchas gracias.
22:38Un placer.
22:39Served like a shot, it's downed in one.
22:44Asturias, I love you.
22:46Before I leave, Samuel has another cider ritual for me.
23:00What are you doing?
23:01I'm cleaning the old wood containers.
23:03Ah.
23:04There's somebody inside here, Perry.
23:06Hello.
23:07Is there anyone inside?
23:09Hello.
23:10Oh, man.
23:11No.
23:12Dame la mano.
23:13¿Cómo se llama usted?
23:14Borja.
23:15Hello, Borja.
23:16¿Qué tal Borja?
23:17¿Qué tal Borja?
23:18¿Qué tal Borja?
23:19¿Qué tal Borja?
23:20¿Qué tal Borja?
23:21¿Qué tal Borja?
23:22Bien, bien.
23:23Estamos cepillando aquí un poco.
23:24Un trabajo muy bonito, ¿no?
23:25No, no, no.
23:26¿Tú también entes?
23:27Yo.
23:28Right.
23:29Should we get this a go?
23:30¿Cómo empezamos?
23:31Así, ¿no?
23:32Ahí, ahí, ahí, ahí.
23:33Los dos.
23:34Los dos, los dos, los dos.
23:35Los dos, los dos.
23:37Los dos.
23:38Los dos, los dos, los dos.
23:39Los dos, los dos.
23:40El otro también.
23:41El otro también.
23:42Ahí.
23:43Así, así, así, así.
23:44Oh!
23:45Empuja, empuja, empuja.
23:50I'm pushing, I'm pushing.
23:52And I believe that I'm inside the barrel.
24:00This is definitely a first for me.
24:02I have never been inside a barrel.
24:04I did not expect to be able to get inside a barrel.
24:07I may have to stay here until I've lost some weight.
24:09El problema es para salir, eh?
24:11Yes, I was afraid of that.
24:16Next.
24:17Look at the size of this.
24:18I explore Spain's biggest building.
24:21The kitchen is like a cathedral, isn't it?
24:23And cook a feast.
24:24Chao.
24:25Chao.
24:26With the stew ladies.
24:28Y diga, Michael.
24:29Michael.
24:30Bravo.
24:31I'm in Spain's northern region of Asturias.
24:44With its lush green landscape and Celtic ties, it feels distinct from the rest of the country.
24:52Andalucía, my second home, is one of the largest of Spain's 17 autonomous communities.
24:59And Asturias, one of the smallest.
25:02It's given a lot of leeway to govern itself.
25:07But during the last century, General Franco viewed the Spanish regions as a threat to national unity.
25:14And they were targeted during the country's civil war.
25:20The Spanish Civil War was incredibly brutal.
25:23My father's Spanish family was completely divided by the war, with brothers fighting on different sides.
25:28My father was exiled to Britain.
25:30And yet, my mother's priority was that his children, his sons, including me, should come to Spain to meet our cousins,
25:40to meet our uncles and our aunts, and to love our second country.
25:43And surely the moral of that is that whatever political differences we may have, that shouldn't affect the love that we have for each other as friends or as families.
25:56I've come to the biggest city in Asturias, Gijón, where one of the most extraordinary reminders of the Franco era was built in the years after the war.
26:11This has to be one of the largest buildings I have ever seen.
26:16Is it a royal palace? Is it a cathedral? Is it a military base? Is it a government building? None.
26:25None of the above.
26:30At the time, Asturias was Spain's industrial powerhouse.
26:34This vast complex was designed as an orphanage for the children of mine workers.
26:41Hello, Alejandra.
26:43Hello, Michael. Nice to meet you.
26:46Local historian Alejandra tells me more.
26:51What an enormous building. I'm so amazed by it.
26:54I mean, it's huge.
26:55Were there so many deaths? Were there so many orphans?
26:58Yeah, you could imagine that in the 40s and the 50s, in the mining industry, it was so common to have different disasters.
27:05Probably, you could say, around 10 disasters per week.
27:09Oh, my God. It was so horrible.
27:11They came here poor, without nothing, most of them orphans, and they give them, well, opportunities to learn and to change their position in their lives.
27:22This must be one of the biggest buildings in Spain.
27:24Yes, it is, in fact, with 277,000 square metres.
27:29That's three and a half times the size of Buckingham Palace.
27:35To this day, La Laboral, which means the workplace, remains the largest building in all Spain.
27:42The idea was to represent a city with this place.
27:49But beautiful. And you can see Roman or Greek style here. The classic, you can feel everywhere.
27:59Columns and statues.
28:01Yes.
28:02The day-to-day running of this city-sized institution required an army of nuns who cooked, cleaned and cared for the hundreds of pupils.
28:16Oh, wow. Look at the size of this.
28:19A mason, huh?
28:20It's huge. Look at the size of this machinery.
28:24Look. I could virtually stand up in there.
28:28You have to clean so many clothes, you know?
28:31The next room we visit makes the laundry look modest.
28:37The kitchen is vast, isn't it?
28:40Impressive.
28:41Absolutely huge. Wow. All the great big machines that you need for mass catering.
28:50And look at that.
28:51Oh!
28:56It's like a cathedral, isn't it?
29:00What's this for?
29:01This is a huge hut. But as well, this balcony that you can see around was prepared as well to clean the space.
29:08So all the smells, all the fumes would go up through there and then it could be cleaned. And this was all run by nuns?
29:16Yes. Today we can see this space in really good conditions. We can see the nuns running and we can hear the sounds or the smells.
29:27Today, La Laboral is an arts and education centre. It's open to the public for guided tours. But being well off the tourist trail, it's never crowded.
29:40Going to the top.
29:42Our last stop, the clock tower, is both the tallest structure in Asturias and one of the tallest stone buildings in all of Spain.
29:52That is amazing. When I was in the courtyard, it seemed big, but there was so much I couldn't see. I couldn't take in the gardens. I couldn't see the extensive workshops.
30:02And down this side are courtyards, which I think were dormitories for the students. And at this end, a circular courtyard, which was where the nuns lived.
30:14And then beyond all that, the city of Quijón, the Bay of Biscay and the port. What an amazing place.
30:23My next stop is a 20-minute spin back towards the capital of Oviedo for a spot of lunch.
30:35It's great driving here. Twisting roads. And on the whole, you're completely on your own. Quite rare to meet another vehicle.
30:46Whenever I travel, I try to find unpretentious restaurants, often family-run, serving delicious regional food.
30:55I've been invited to lunch with a group of renowned local cooks.
31:01Hola, señoras. Hola, guisanderas. Michael Portillo.
31:05Hello.
31:07Known throughout Asturias as las guisanderas, these are the stew ladies.
31:13Hello. Hola. ¿Qué tal?
31:16They came together to revive long-forgotten recipes and to eat together at each other's restaurants.
31:23It's led them to publish a best-selling cookbook that champions Asturian cookery of the past.
31:32Being the stew ladies, today's menu features two local stews. One's called fabada, and I know it well.
31:40Sara. ¿Qué tal la fabada? Muy bien. Aquí está.
31:44We have to put the white beans in water the night before.
31:50And then these are the other ingredients, aren't they? Yes.
31:53So fabada is beans and meats and sausages. Yes.
31:56It's also Spain's national comfort food, taking its name from these large white beans known as fabes,
32:03which were brought back from the Americas by early Spanish explorers.
32:07It's a humble peasant dish, but enjoyed by the discerning in homes and restaurants across the land.
32:15So time to put the meats in. Chorito. Sí.
32:20Morcilla, blood sausage. Mm-hmm. Pancheta. Sí.
32:25And this is a pig's front leg. Yes.
32:30Ooh, look at that. And that is the fabada, yes? Yes.
32:34On the other side of the kitchen, Sara's mum Yvonne and club president Amada are cooking a stew that's unknown to me.
32:42Pote. Pote. And what is the difference between pote and fabada?
32:46The leaves, the green leaves. These, these things? Yes.
32:50Fantastic, isn't it? It's similar to tarnip leaf.
32:53Really? Yes. So which is better? I think fabada. Pote. Pote. Pote.
33:03The battle of the stews is on. And Amada lets be in on a secret.
33:09Cada una que hace el pote, aunque sea con los mismos ingredientes, va a saber diferente.
33:14Yo parto las patatas, que ves como las partía. A lo mejor ella las parte de otra manera, aunque les eche patatas.
33:22Chasca. Chasca. Chasca.
33:24Chasca. Chasca. Ahora, ahora, ahora.
33:25Ahora. Ah! Ah! Ah! You see?
33:28You see? Así? Haciéndolo así?
33:30Sí. La patata suelta mucho mejor su fecola y hace el caldo más espeso y la patata se cuece mejor.
33:39Chasca.
33:41Chasca. Chasca. Chasca. Chasca.
33:43Potatoes in to do their starchy work. This looks so lovely.
33:49Dining clubs like these are found all over Spain.
33:54If you're lucky enough to be invited to one, you'll discover a lot more than food.
34:00I really believe that their club is about friendship.
34:04It's about helping each other, swapping recipes and so on.
34:07And if it's true that you can taste love that's been put into cooking and passion that's got into creating a dish,
34:15I think I'm about to experience exactly that.
34:21It really smells good, doesn't it?
34:24But first, a toast.
34:26Viva la gastronomía asturiana!
34:29Viva!
34:30Vivan las guisanderas!
34:32Viva!
34:33Y viva Michael!
34:34Michael!
34:36Viva la gastronomía asturiana!
34:37Viva!
34:38G booster!
34:39Viva la gastronomía asturiana.
34:40Now, for the fabada.
34:41The fabada.
34:42Ooo, the fabada.
34:44¿Quieres un pote?
34:45Los que quieran fabada o fabada.
34:46Yo quiero el pote, or καz Soled the food!
34:48This is perfect.
34:50The beans are just perfectly cooked
34:54Followed by the pote.
34:56The sauce is delicious!
35:02Delicious.
35:03Mmm.
35:04Buena.
35:05Dizanderas.
35:08A solemn moment.
35:10I've reached my judgement.
35:11Now, I knew the fabado already.
35:14I'm familiar with it.
35:15I've had it before.
35:16I've never had the pote, and I love the pote.
35:19And so, I give the prize to the pote.
35:29They're both absolutely fantastic.
35:31Two are fantastic.
35:32Yes.
35:35Next, I discover extraordinary buildings.
35:39Smell the money.
35:41And even more extraordinary noises.
35:54My journey through Spain's secret Asturias region
35:58is coming to an end.
36:01But there's still time to show you a couple of very special places.
36:07Yet another charming village.
36:09This one is called Colombres.
36:11But its architecture sets it apart.
36:19Colombres sits in the eastern corner of Asturias.
36:22Once a humble farming settlement, it was transformed in the 19th century.
36:28By grand mansions with ornamental flourishes and exquisite gardens.
36:34Built in a very particular style, with influences from halfway around the world.
36:39What a magnificent house.
36:41Smell the money.
36:47In the 19th and 20th century, so many people emigrated from Asturias to the Americas.
36:53They went because there wasn't work or because they couldn't see opportunities for their families.
36:57Or for political reasons.
36:59And some returned.
37:00And those who did, strangely enough, are known in Spanish as Indianos.
37:04A few had made their fortune and they built great mansions like this.
37:10This one was built by Inigo Noriega, who'd made his fortune in Mexico.
37:16And he filled his garden with exotic species that he brought from across the Atlantic.
37:20And these buildings are, I think, a monument to the magnetic pull of Asturias.
37:28That when people went away, they felt the attraction that brought them back.
37:36I'm sure that you too will feel the pull of Asturias.
37:41Just make sure you have enough time to pack it all in.
37:44For my final visit, I've come to one of the many seaside towns that dot its Atlantic coast.
37:54This is so beautiful.
37:55I'm certainly getting the hang of Asturias.
37:57In a few moments, you can be in beautiful cities, you can be in captivating mountains.
38:03Or you can have this tranquility.
38:05A little fishing village, a beach, a cove.
38:09And the extraordinary thing is that all of these are places that most of us have not heard of.
38:14And so they're unspoiled. There aren't crowds here.
38:19Be careful to keep the secret.
38:24Spain is a land of contrasts.
38:27The people I'm about to meet are inspired by music more generally associated with my mother's homeland, Scotland,
38:35than with my father's, Spain.
38:37Spain.
38:50Hola. Hola.
38:51I have Scottish blood as well as Spanish.
39:04I always find pipes and drums pretty moving.
39:07And that was stirring indeed.
39:09Daniel.
39:10Hello.
39:11Hello.
39:12Daniel enthusiastically upholds the tradition of Asturian piping.
39:17What were you just playing? What was that music?
39:19We were playing the Asturias anthem.
39:22In Spanish it's called Asturias Patre Querida.
39:24My beloved fatherland Asturias.
39:27And how long have you been playing the bagpipe?
39:29I've been playing the bagpipe since seven, eight years old.
39:33We start with a flute and then we begin with the bagpipe as we grow up.
39:38Now, actually, I've been calling it a bagpipe, but you call this a gaita.
39:41Yes.
39:42In Spanish it's called gaita and this kind of gaita, of bagpipe, is the Asturian bagpipe.
39:48It's similar to the Scottish bagpipe or to the Irish bagpipe, but the sound is maybe more strong, more heavier.
39:55So what do you feel when you play the bagpipe?
39:57It's too muy orgulloso.
39:58I'm very proud.
39:59And we want to spread our culture all around the world.
40:06Daniel has played his bagpipes as far afield as China, America and across Europe.
40:12Here in his hometown, he now teaches the pipes to the next generation of Asturian musicians.
40:19Just show me how you play it.
40:21Yes.
40:22Like this.
40:23The bag, you have to put it...
40:25Under my arm.
40:26Under your arm.
40:27This is to control the notes.
40:28I don't think I'll get that far.
40:30And you have to blow really...
40:33More, more.
40:34More.
40:35A lot more.
40:36Yeah.
40:37Now you...
40:38You have to put the bag under your...
40:41More, more.
40:42Under your arm.
40:43More, more.
40:44More, more.
40:45More.
40:46More.
40:47More.
40:48More.
40:49More.
40:50More.
40:51More.
40:52More.
40:53You're turning in red.
40:54That's your shirt.
40:56I think I'll leave it to you.
40:58Hey.
40:59Hey.
41:00Hey.
41:01Hey.
41:02Hey.
41:03They hospital.
41:04And I am not going to die now.
41:06We're going to take an air.
41:07The連is station isым.
41:08And I am going to the fire.
41:09Thanks, Ray.
41:10It's time to blow us out of the air.
41:11Asturias defies our stereotypes of Spain.
41:34It's green instead of parched.
41:37Its instrument is neither the castanet nor the guitar.
41:41But the bagpipe, it's Celtic, and yet it's so very Spanish.
41:46And it is the setting for the origin story of Christian Spain.
41:53In Asturias, I've seen serious mountains.
41:58And yet these exceptional mountains are scarcely known outside this realm.
42:06And that is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen.
42:11And yet there are so few people there.
42:14And I bet you, if I went around the coast, I'd find a cove without a footprint on the sand.
42:25Asturias is a secret hidden in plain sight.
42:29Next time, I'm in San Sebastian.
42:39The setting is just perfection.
42:42It's a cold start.
42:43And Bilbao.
42:43Absolutely mouth-watering.
42:48You have to love heat and fire and smoke.
42:52Here we like it.
42:53Round it back and flat in the front.
42:55You have to learn the cuts.
42:57You have to practice like that.
42:58Yes, catch Michael just along the coast there next Thursday at 8.
43:05What wondrous words will cascade from Tom Reid Wilson when he sets eyes on Michelangelo's David.
43:12A magnificent journey new tomorrow at 8.
43:15And Ben Fogel's on quite the journey next.
43:17A new life on a wild island in Uganda, complete with camels.
43:21New next.
43:22A new life on a wild island in Uganda.
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