Someone watching the sea from the top of the cliff discovers the back of a whale. He lights a fire as a signal, and in the Chapel of San Roque, the bells start ringing to alert the town's fishermen. Very soon, some boats with a handful of men get out to sea, and with the stroke of a paddle, they approach the gigantic cetacean. When they can't get any closer, it is time for the harpooner. They all depend on his strength and aim to catch the animal, but they also depend on luck: they know that just a flick of the tail would be the end.
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Someone watching the sea from the top of the cliff discovers the back of a whale. He lights a fire as a signal, and in the Chapel of San Roque, the bells start ringing to alert the town's fishermen. Very soon, some boats with a handful of men get out to sea, and with the stroke of a paddle, they approach the gigantic cetacean. When they can't get any closer, it is time for the harpooner. They all depend on his strength and aim to catch the animal, but they also depend on luck: they know that just a flick of the tail would be the end.
Scenes like this were frequent in the Llastres of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, although whaling was practised in this area much earlier, since the Middle Ages. Later, in the eighteenth century, the animals became scarce, and that terrible and risky trade ceased to be profitable.
So this beautiful town, with its houses clinging to the hill and its cobbled streets, has a past that has left its mark on the nature of the people. The prosperity of those whaling times was reflected in emblazoned palaces such as the one of the Vallados or the one of the Robledos, and this last family also erected the Clock Tower, a monument that is very well-loved here. But as usual, those who truly risked their lives did not live in palaces, but in modest houses that can still be seen in the old Barrio de Los Balleneros-The Whalers' Quarter.
You will certainly like the Church of Santa María de Sádaba, with its unique octagonal tower, not to mention the incredible view from the viewpoint next to the Chapel of San Roque. Also, take a pleasant walk down Calle Real and pay close attention to the Fragua staircase, which was built a few centuries ago on the path that went down the cliff.
It is not in vain that the historic centre of Llastres was declared a Historic Site of Cultural Interest. If you find the place familiar when you walk through its streets, perhaps it is because of a series called "Doctor Mateo" that were shown on TV some years ago. In the fiction, the town was named San Martín del Sella, but it was Llastres. And if it was already beautiful on the screen, we don’t need to tell you what it is like to see it with your own eyes.
