Avilés is the kind of place that might appeal to you in northern Spain. A really overlooked, formerly industrial town, third string to Oviedo and Gijón in what is already a pretty small and unimportant region. Kind of like Gateshead, maybe. But it goes absolutely mad for Carnival, and also has a cultural centre designed by the Brasilia guy, Oscar Niemeyer, the only building by him anywhere in Spain. Bilbao got Frank Gehry's Guggenheim, and suddenly it's on everyone's Top 10 bucket-list must-sees. Avilés has its Niemeyer, and hardly anyone's even heard of it.