ASTURIAS – A tiny Spanish coastal village in northern Spain with a population of under 6,000 sounds perfect for that disconnect from city life. However, for those expecting a quiet, tranquil holiday away from it all, Ribadesella could be the place for you – or not!
Rural life in Spain isn´t always peaceful, but it is certainly authentic. Ribadesella provides an early alarm call each morning at 5 am when the rooster crows. You can hear cattle bells ringing, church bells tolling, and donkeys braying. You can even see cows wandering the streets and “doing their business”.
Tourists called to complain
However, some tourists called to complain about braying donkeys. Others dialed officials in the northern Spanish village of Ribadesella, population 5,700, to notify them of the mess left behind by wandering cows.
“Last week we had a lady who called us three or four times over a rooster that was waking her up at 5 am,” said Ramón Canal, Ribadesella’s mayor. “She told us that we had to do something.”
Ribadesella takes action
The tiny coastal town in Asturias has had enough with tourists complaining and decided instead to take to Twitter with a rather fitting, tongue-in-cheek post.
⚠ Atención ⚠#AyuntamientodeRibadesella #AyuntamientuRibeseya pic.twitter.com/sh84FSHyBo
— Ayuntamiento de Ribadesella (@AytoRibadesella) August 12, 2021
If you can´t handle the noise…
If you can’t handle the (rural) noise, you might not be in the right place. So don’t bother coming!
“Here we have church bells that ring out regularly, roosters that crow early in the morning and herds of livestock that live nearby and at times carry cowbells that also make noise,” according to the tweet.
Officials sprang into action. However, what they came up with, most likely fell short of what the moaning tourists were hoping for.
Rural life in Spain is what it is – real! It is there to be experienced and embraced.
