Gijón

Gijón brings together its more than two thousand years’ experience in hospitality and its drive towards the future, its permanent transformation, and its cutting-edge position in the Principality of Asturias. For example, you can choose between holding an event in a clock tower or having dinner under the largest elliptical dome in Europe. You can enjoy a cocktail party surrounded by sharks and penguins or take part in a cider-pouring contest. You can even select a Conference Hall among trees (and surrounded by squirrels).

What better backdrop to exchange ideas than a city that focuses on science, creativity, and innovation? Gijón’s “Knowledge Mile” is a research ecosystem in which 20,000 high-talent people, specialising in knowledge, meet every day, who in less than 20 years have been able to generate 25% of Asturias’s R+D+i, representing 6.95% of the region’s GDP.

What better location than one where you can do all types of activities in a beautiful, surprising protected natural landscape – just a five- or ten-minute walk away, or just half an hour or forty minutes away by car? The green areas in the city, which save time and money, make it possible to enjoy experiences and activities in such stunning and original venues as the Atlantic Botanic Garden (which is home to specimens that have been declared natural monuments and old-growth forests) and the Museum of the People of Asturias, which displays traditional rural buildings (such as hórreos, paneras, shepherds’ huts, and bowling alleys), and which, with its great wooded meadow, is highly suitable for events held outdoors or under a marquee.

Gijón contributes its own values to the reputation of the meetings that select it: Innovation and love of tradition, positive energy, the basic wisdom of those who maintain a Mediterranean, extroverted, cheerful, and creative lifestyle in Atlantic Europe, without forgetting about their commitment. Gijón has renewed its Biosphere World Urban Destination certificate, granted by the Institute for Responsible Tourism associated with UNESCO and the World Tourism Organisation. Thus it has been recognised for its care for the environment, its protection of its historical heritage and local traditions, its search for quality of life for citizens and visitors, and the advances in the city’s accessibility and its services.

It is a welcoming, human-size city, in which 270,000 people become involved to ensure that your meeting or event will be successful. At the same time, it offers infrastructures and services worthy of a metropolis, with huge flexibility and the professionalism of local service providers. Gijón is a surprising combination of quality and competitiveness.