David Villa on his Asturian roots: "Everything I am grew up there" in Langreo, where his first goals were scored

Former Spanish international striker David Villa, a key player in Spain's 2010 World Cup victory, has never forgotten his Asturian origins.

"Everything I am grew up there," he confesses in a documentary about his beginnings, referring to the small parish of Tuilla and the municipality of Langreo where he played his first official matches.

Born in Tuilla, Villa developed from childhood until the age of 17 in the Unión Popular de Langreo — a club he has recently helped to save through a fundraising project.

No one can explain their story without mentioning their personal geography — the places that, in one way or another, leave their mark. The square of the first kiss, the school where vocation is discovered, the street where heartbreak is known. And for David Villa, the football field where he scored his first goals. Because the man who would become one of the key forwards for the Spanish national team during the 2010 World Cup was first a boy who dreamed of chasing a ball in a village in Asturias. "Everything I am grew up there," he confesses in the documentary he is recording for DAZN about his origins.

David Villa, former Spanish international:Everything I am grew up there.

My academy is the Sporting academy, the Asturias academy, the Langreo academy, the Tuilla academy.

Born in Tuilla, David Villa's first touches of a ball took place in the streets of this Asturian parish of nearly 600 inhabitants. However, to discover his first official goals — the first time he wore a shirt and formed part of a team — one must travel to the heart of this Asturian municipality: Langreo. From his childhood until the age of 17, Villa developed in the youth system of the Unión Popular de Langreo, a club he has recently helped to save through a fundraising project. Although his goals conquered La Liga, the European Championship and the World Cup, although he played in countries as distant as Japan and the United States, Villa never forgets that everything he is and everything he has he owes to Langreo.

LANGREO: THE HEART OF ASTURIAN INDUSTRY

Langreo, known as Llangréu in Asturian, is a municipality in the Nalón valley, in the heart of Asturias, deeply connected to coal mining, steelmaking and working-class culture. It is a fundamental territory for understanding the industrialisation of Asturias and how the region transformed itself around coal. Before industrial development, Langreo was a rural territory, made up of parishes, villages and small agricultural settlements. There is evidence of ancient occupation linked to the Castreña culture, and the municipality also appears connected to the early times of the Kingdom of Asturias. However, it is not until the 19th century that Langreo's coal placed it on the map as a key location in the region's economic fabric. The construction of the Langreo Railway was the final piece of an intense industrialisation campaign.

DISCOVERING LANGREO: MINING MUSEUMS, ROMANESQUE HERITAGE AND CARBON ROUTES

Far from the more typical livestock postcards of Asturias, Langreo allows visitors to discover another side of this region: the world of mining. The Ecomuseo Minero del Valle de Samuño offers a close encounter with the history of coal mining and the landscape of the former mining basin. Also essential is the Museo de la Siderurgia de Asturias, located in an old cooling tower of the Duro Felguera factory, which helps visitors understand the birth of steelmaking, technological evolution and the lives of the workers. Langreo is also a perfect starting point for discovering the landscapes and monuments of the municipality, among which the village of Ciaño stands out. There, visitors can find the Church of San Esteban, of Romanesque origin, and the Torre de la Quintana, a medieval heritage site of the Kingdom of Asturias. The constant of intense greenery that defines Asturias is also present here, with impressive routes such as the Senderos del Carbón (Carbon Trails), a network of paths that recover old mining spaces around Monte Carrio and Picu La Vara, offering routes on foot or by bicycle through landscapes where industrial history and nature converge.

This National Geographic feature on David Villa's roots in Langreo highlights a different facet of Asturias — not the coastal or mountainous landscapes often associated with the region, but the industrial valleys that shaped its modern history. InasTour, acting as a buyer's agent, assists international clients in identifying properties across all Asturian concejos, including the Nalón valley and other inland areas where the combination of heritage, landscape and accessibility makes an increasingly compelling residential proposition.

David Villa's story is inseparable from Langreo. The town where he scored his first goals, where he developed as a player and as a person, remains a central part of his identity. His words — "everything I am grew up there" — speak to a connection that goes beyond nostalgia. They reflect the reality of a region that has shaped not only its own history but also the lives of those who have left it. Langreo, with its mining heritage, its green valleys and its deep-rooted identity, is a reminder that Asturias is not only a place of beaches and mountains but also of valleys, industry and stories that continue to resonate far beyond its borders.