History of the Sella River descent

In 5 lines: it all started in 1929 when Dionisio de la Huerta paddled the Sella with four friends in an improvised canoe. A year later the official International Sella Descent was born. In 1980 it was declared International Tourist Interest Festival. Today it is one of the oldest canoe competitions in the world and the reason the tourist descent of the Sella is what it is.

When you paddle the Sella, you probably do not stop to think you are following a route with almost a century of history. But it is worth it. The Sella descent tradition is not an invention of modern tourism: it has been going since 1929, and understanding its origin changes how you look at the river.

This article is an honest summary of that history. We are not historians, but we have spent 25 years in Arriondas and met people who saw the first canoes paddle down. What they share is a distillation of what we know and what is documented in official sources of the International Descent.

1929 · a bet with history

In August 1929, five friends turned up in Arriondas with a canoe and an idea that back then sounded crazy: paddle the Sella down to Ribadesella. Among them was Dionisio de la Huerta, an Asturian with an adventurous spirit who would end up being considered the father of the event.

That paddle was not regulated, had no prize, was not covered by any sports newspaper. It was an adventure between friends, similar to one any group might plan today on a weekend. But the idea took root. The following year, in 1930, the first official edition of the International Sella Descent was organised, with rules, registrations and a public on the bank.

The first years were modest: a few dozen participants, heavy wooden canoes, an Asturian society that did not yet imagine what it would become. But the combination proved powerful: a beautiful river, a 20 km route with dramatic scenery, and an Asturias that accompanied the event with music, cider and popular festivity.

Consolidation · from local event to national festival

Through the 1940s and 50s, the Descent grew slowly. Teams arrived from outside Asturias, times improved, canoes became lighter. In 1957 came the first major institutional recognition: the Tourist Interest Festival declaration.

It was the signal that this was no longer just a local competition but a cultural phenomenon. The first Saturday of August went from being "the canoe race" to a day-event with festivals, country mass, river train, communal meal and, of course, thousands of people on the banks.

In 1966 it was upgraded to National Tourist Interest Festival. And finally, in 1980, came the declaration that consecrated the event worldwide: International Tourist Interest Festival. To this day it is one of the few canoe events in the world with that distinction.

Dionisio de la Huerta · father of the Sella

Without Dionisio de la Huerta there is no Descent. He was promoter, paddler, organiser and, above all, a believer in the project when very few saw it. For decades he led the organisation, pushing for the event to grow and for the Sella to take the place it deserved in international sport.

In Arriondas there are busts and plaques remembering him, and every edition of the International Descent includes mentions of his figure. His surname is as tied to the Sella as the river itself — there is no way to tell this story without him.

Dionisio did not invent the river. But he turned paddling it into a shared idea that has joined paddlers, families and entire Asturian valleys for 95 years every first Saturday of August.

From sport to canoe tourism

Until the mid-1980s, the Sella was mostly the territory of professional paddlers. Paddling the river "for fun" was rare: it was associated with competition. But something started to change with the popularisation of outdoor tourism in the 90s: families, groups of friends, companies… more and more people wanted to do the descent without competing, simply as an experience.

The first outdoor tourism companies appeared in Arriondas, with recreational double-seat canoes (unsinkable, much more stable than competition canoes), transfer services and the whole package we take for granted today. Our parents — and in some cases grandparents — were part of that first generation that professionalised the tourist descent of the Sella.

Today, between April and October, thousands of people paddle the Sella as a recreational experience. It is literally a different activity from the International Descent — different canoe, different pace, different spirit — but it draws directly from the tradition Dionisio and his friends started in 1929.

What still lives on

The International Descent is held every year and attracts participants from dozens of countries. Beyond the race itself, the official day lives on in four rituals that make the first Saturday of August a full festival.

If your trip to the Sella coincides with the Saturday of the International Descent (in 2026, 8 August), seriously consider being in Arriondas or Ribadesella that day. It is one of those experiences that changes how you see the place. Here are the official dates and practical information for anyone who wants to experience it.

Why this history matters

Because when you paddle the Sella you are not just doing a tourist activity: you are following a route with memory. The same curves, the same river beaches, the same Pozo del Arco, the same banks that have seen paddlers from all over the world pass for almost a century.

And also because Arriondas, Ribadesella and every village in the Sella valley live — in part — on that tradition. The International Descent is not a disconnected event: it is the node from which the entire ecosystem of canoe tourism, local gastronomy, services, snack bars and accommodation emerges. Joining the tourist descent is indirectly joining that cultural network.

That is why when someone tells us "I don't know how to paddle" we always reply the same: you do not need to know how to paddle. You need to want to be there. The rest has been built by 95 years of people paddling the same river, and all you have to do is join that current.

History summary

Almost a century of Sella in one column · from the first improvised paddle to today's ritual.

1. 1929
   The symbolic origin. Dionisio de la Huerta paddles the Sella with four friends in an improvised canoe · no rules, no prize, no public.
2. 1930
   First official edition. The International Sella Descent is born with rules, registrations and a public on the bank.
3. 1957
   Tourist Interest Festival. First institutional recognition · no longer just competition, but a cultural phenomenon.
4. 1966
   National Tourist Interest Festival. The Descent enters the Spanish collective imagination.
5. 1980
   International Tourist Interest Festival. Worldwide recognition · one of the few canoe events with this distinction.
6. 1990s
   Recreational canoe tourism is born. The first companies arrive in Arriondas with unsinkable canoes · anyone can paddle the river without competing.
7. Today
   Thousands of people each season. Families, couples and groups follow the route that started in 1929 · the Sella is a shared river.

If you are hooked by the history and want to paddle the same river Dionisio did, pick a date in the calendar. And if you coincide with the Saturday of the International Descent, stay at least to watch it — it is the real way to understand why this river became what it is.