An icon reborn

Meet the Truita

Name: Hotel Truita
Address: Calle Uría 35, Cangas del Narcea, Asturias, 33800, ES
Telephone: +34 628 306 985

Half a century between these two photos. Same corner, same colour collage.

The story, 1962 to now

Then

Now

The old Hostal Truita in its heyday, the colour collage already on the façade — 1962Gómez del Collado’s Hostal Truita, with the collage on the façade.

The same corner of the Hotel Truita today, restored — 2026The same corner, restored stone by stone.

Origins

Designed by Gómez del Collado

It was designed by José Gómez del Collado (1910–1995), the architect who brought modernist architecture to rural Asturias.

The colour collage on the façade is his too: pieces of glazed stoneware set into the rubble-stone walls. A work of art on the front of a small-town hotel.

For years it was one of the liveliest places in Cangas. People came from all over to stay, and it hosted banquets, weddings and parties. For visitors and locals alike, it was a landmark.

Portrait of José Gómez del Collado, architect of the Hotel Truita — José Gómez del Collado (1910–1995) and one of the stoneware constellations on his façade.

Detail of the Truita’s façade: a constellation of green stoneware in organic shapes on the stone wall — José Gómez del Collado (1910–1995) and one of the stoneware constellations on his façade.

The ruined Truita from the street: roofless stone walls, with the stoneware constellations still on the façade — The stone walls were all that stayed standing — and the stoneware on the façade held on.

The fire

In 2001 a fire left only the stone walls standing.

The silent years

Almost a quarter-century in ruins

Twenty-four years open to the sky, in the middle of town.

Inside the ruined Truita, looking up: open sky framed by the walls and their empty windows — The sky that stayed open for twenty-four years, seen from inside.

The rebuild

The restoration

Owner David Álvarez, the man behind the project, set the restoration in motion with architects Emilio Llano and Javier Llano. New roof trusses, the stone repaired, the colour back.

These photos were taken on site during the work. No filters.