Project

Cider in Asturian Emigration

A visual record of a shared culture: a book, virtual exhibition and open documentary project on cider in Asturian emigration. Exhibition curator: Llucía Fernández Marqués.

Key facts

Type
Project

Presentation

A Fundación Asturies XXI project that recovers and shares the visual history of cider culture in Asturian emigrant communities. Photographs, posters, labels and documents show cider’s presence in social life and trade during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Language, memories and ways of gathering travelled with the people who emigrated. Cider remained a link to Asturias: it accompanied family gatherings, celebrations and the activities of Asturian communities in their host countries.

The photographs in the book bring this history into everyday life: shared tables, festivities, shops and spaces for social interaction. Posters and labels show how images of Asturias accompanied the circulation of bottles. Demand from emigrant communities, exports and the development of the cider industry formed part of the same history of ties, exchanges and belonging.

This visual journey invites us to discover and preserve the documents that tell the story of Asturian emigration and the transmission of cider culture to new generations.

Project facts

Responsible organisationFundación Asturies XXI
Exhibition curatorLlucía Fernández Marqués
Year2026
ScopeAsturias and emigrant communities in the Americas
PeriodNineteenth and twentieth centuries; the documented chronological core spans 1870–1947
Initial collection20 items
FormatsDigital book, virtual exhibition and open documentary project

Read the book

Cover of La sidre na emigración asturiana. Memoria gráfica d’una cultura compartida.

La sidre na emigración asturiana

A visual record of a shared culture

A journey through photographs, posters and labels documenting cider in Asturian emigration, community life and trade between Asturias and the Americas.

48 pages. Original PDF: 26.78 MB (26,781,933 bytes). Web version: 11.64 MB (11,638,202 bytes).

The reading link opens the web version in a new tab. The download provides the original PDF. The book is available in its original Asturian edition.

Documentary timeline

A journey through cider’s presence in emigration and transatlantic trade between 1870 and 1947. Each date links directly to the corresponding exhibition item.

* The identification of Mexico in the 1900 item is probable rather than definitive.

Cider around the world

The project documents a network of cultural and commercial circulation originating in Asturias and extending across different parts of the Americas. This documentary map groups items by location and offers a geographical route into the exhibition.

Asturias

Villaviciosa, 1920 · shipping and exports. The final items also document Asturian production, advertising and labelling.

Mexico

Mexico, 1870 · Mexico*, 1900. Cider appears in both everyday settings and the life of emigrant communities.

Other documented destinations

The international labelling in item 20 also mentions Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Chile, alongside Cuba, Argentina and Mexico.

Virtual exhibition

A complete journey through the book’s 20 items, in their original order. Select an image to enlarge it.

Introduction

Asturian emigration carried much more than people across the Atlantic. Language, memories, ways of gathering and a cider culture that remained a link to the homeland travelled with them. Cider accompanied family gatherings, celebrations and the activities of Asturian communities, finding new spaces in their host countries.

This book offers a visual journey through that shared history. The photographs show tables, festivities, shops and social spaces where cider formed part of emigrant life. Posters and labels broaden the picture, revealing how images of Asturias also accompanied the circulation of bottles.

The journey also explores the relationship between demand from emigrant communities, exports and the development of the Asturian cider industry. Through these records, trade and everyday life appear connected in a shared history of ties, exchanges and belonging.

Looking at these images brings us closer to the people who kept their relationship with their homeland alive and passed their customs to new generations. This visual record invites us to recognise cider as part of our shared culture and value the documents that help us discover, preserve and tell the history of Asturian emigration.

Back to contents

Reading themes

Emigration and identity

The items show how cider accompanied Asturian communities abroad and served as a cultural link to Asturias.

Social life and transmission

Family gatherings, romerías, banquets and association spaces document cider’s presence in everyday life and the transmission of customs between generations.

Transatlantic trade

Photographs, advertising and labels trace cider’s circulation between Asturias and American markets, as well as its presence in shops, cafés and places of consumption.

The cider industry

Exports and demand from American markets formed part of the consolidation and modernisation of a cider industry that also looked overseas.

Thematic routes

Educational uses

The project’s material can support work on emigration, memory, cider culture, economic history and the critical reading of visual sources. Activities can be adapted to different levels and combine the virtual exhibition, map and timeline.

Observe

Identify people, objects, spaces and symbols in the photographs without drawing conclusions the image cannot support.

Compare

Choose two items from different decades or countries and analyse what changes and what remains in cider’s social presence.

Locate

Follow the documented destinations on the map and connect them to the project’s timeline.

Cross-check

Distinguish documented facts, interpretation and probable identification, and return to the cited sources whenever possible.

Explore other educational resources from Fundación Asturies XXI.

Editorial approach and methodology

The entries combine documentary information —date, place, authorship or provenance when recorded— with visual description and historical interpretation. Any information that is not securely documented is explicitly identified.

  • Documented fact: Used when the date, place, authorship or provenance appears in the available documentation.
  • Probable identification: Explicitly indicated when an attribution is not definitive.
  • Unknown information: Left unknown, without inference, until sufficient documentation is available.

References to the book’s pages allow readers to return to the original document and check each item’s full context. The project welcomes corrections and new documentary contributions that can refine or expand the entries.

Sources and documentation

The items refer to archives and collections identified in the book and the exhibition entries. Documented sources include the Muséu del Pueblu d’Asturies, the Historical Archive of Valle, Ballina y Fernández, the Fundación José Cardín Fernández, the Biblioteca Digital Maliaya, the Ana Fleites Gutiérrez Collection and the El Progreso de Asturias Collection, alongside other holdings cited item by item.

A specific reference appears below each item whenever its provenance is identified. Where the available information does not allow a more precise source to be given, the entry refers to the book and the corresponding pages, without adding details by inference.

Reference bibliography

  • Ocampo Suárez-Valdés, Joaquín (2015): «Del árbol a la botella: sidra “El Gaitero”, la internacionalización de una empresa familiar», Revista de Historia Industrial, n.º 57. View in DIGIBUO, Universidad de Oviedo.
  • Fuertes Arias, Rafael (1902): Asturias industrial. Estudio descriptivo del estado actual de la industria asturiana en todas sus manifestaciones. View the record in the Biblioteca Virtual del Principado de Asturias.
  • López Álvarez, Juaco; Gayo Arias, Sonia (2015): «La emigración en el Muséu del Pueblu d’Asturies», Anales del Museo Nacional de Antropología, XVII, pp. 102–134. Read study.

Credits and support

Exhibition curator: Llucía Fernández Marqués.

Fundación Asturies XXI
Fundación Asturies XXI
Principality of Asturias. Department of Presidency, Demographic Challenge, Equality and Tourism.
Department of Presidency, Demographic Challenge, Equality and Tourism

Project supported by a grant from the Government of the Principality of Asturias, through the Department of Presidency, Demographic Challenge, Equality and Tourism.

Support

The back cover also lists: CiderCities European Network; LA SIDRA; CIFP Hostelería y Turismo — Centro Integrado de Formación Profesional; FASCA; Cátedra Sidra de Asturias (catedrasidradeasturias); Escuela de Sumillería de Sidra — Fundación Asturies XXI; Fundación GijónRural; Ayuntamiento Nava; and Ayuntamientu Bimenes.

View the back-cover credits

How to cite this project

The following reference can be used in research, publications or educational materials:

Fundación Asturies XXI (2026). La sidre na emigración asturiana. Memoria gráfica d’una cultura compartida. https://fundacionasturies.org/proyeutos/la-sidre-na-emigracion-asturiana/

Request the exhibition

The exhibition “La sidre na emigración asturiana. Memoria gráfica d’una cultura compartida” is available to interested institutions and associations. Fundación Asturies XXI will consider each request according to availability and the characteristics of the venue.

Basic technical specifications

  • 20 large-format panels.
  • 70 × 100 cm per panel.
  • Production planned on rigid supports, prepared for installation in exhibition spaces.
  • Designed as a travelling exhibition.

The Foundation confirms specific installation arrangements and availability with each applicant organisation.

Information we need

  • Applicant organisation
  • Contact person
  • Town or city
  • Available venue
  • Proposed dates
  • Any useful additional comments

How to request

You can send your request directly by email. The button opens a prepared message to help you include the basic information.

Open archive: contribute documents

This project welcomes further growth and new records. Fundación Asturies XXI is interested in finding photographs, posters, labels, commercial documents, correspondence and other materials relating to cider’s presence in Asturian emigration.

If you hold family, business or association documents that may be of interest, please contact the Foundation. You do not need to know the exact date, authorship or provenance: any accompanying information may help identify a document.

What you can contribute

  • Photographs of emigrants and family gatherings
  • Romerías, banquets and association activities
  • Posters, advertisements and promotional material
  • Labels, invoices and commercial documents
  • Correspondence and accounts relating to cider

Useful information

  • Country and town or city
  • Approximate date
  • Identified people or organisations
  • Document provenance
  • Any associated family story or information

Share the project

This QR code links to the original project’s stable URL in Asturian.

QR code to open the original La sidre na emigración asturiana project page.Download QR code

Areas of work