Our first day in Oviedo was sunny and hot. Underground parking was super convenient and pretty tight especially for Americans who are not used to small parking spaces. The whole historic center area is car-restricted meaning the only cars there are the ones sheepishly squeaking into or out of the parking lot under the plaza. The street is made of some sort of modern-looking shiny black cobble stone and car tires make a loud “squeaky clean” noise on it.
The city is indeed very clean. The cleaning service is ever-present, vacuuming the streets, polishing the sidewalks, or power-washing the skate park (!) We joked that it’s always ready for the arrival of the the royal family.
The outskirts, at least the ones we’ve seen, also look nice and well-maintained.
Only after getting back home I finally googled it and found out that Oviedo routinely tops the list of the cleanest cities in Spain and maybe even Europe.
And a cherry on top, Oviedo appears to be one of the safest cities in Europe as well.