Piñera cider mill was the chosen venue for the presentation of the CIDEREU project, an initiative that marks a turning point for the cider sector — not only in Asturies but across Europe.
LA SIDRA.- During the presentation, the support and funding from the European Union for the CIDEREU project was officially announced. Its final approval by the European Assembly was signed just recently — a fact described as “a major milestone” by Jorge González Palacios, Councillor for Institutional Relations of the City Council of Xixón, who opened the event with words of enthusiasm.
The total investment, fully financed by the European Union, amounts to €253,000, aimed at revaluing cider culture and traditional agriculture as engines of identity, sustainability, and social cohesion. The programme, to be developed throughout 2026 and 2027, will involve Italy, Slovenia, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Asturies, with Nava and Xixón serving as its main hubs. Over the course of 24 months, three major European events will be held, the main one taking place in Xixón.
In his speech, Marcos Abel Fernández, president of the Asturies XXI Foundation, reviewed the long journey leading up to this moment — from the first international meetings held during the International Cider Gala (SISGA) fifteen years ago, where the similarities between the European cider sectors were first identified, to the creation of Cider Cities in 2023. “We realised there were shared challenges — in cider making, apple production, and in maintaining a living culture, more or less developed, around cider,” he explained.
Fernández also highlighted the ongoing support of the Xixón City Council, the Gijón Rural Bank Foundation, and the Xixón Chamber of Commerce, founding partners alongside the Asturies XXI Foundation, around whom other European municipalities gradually joined.The Cider Cities network currently comprises ten municipalities .: Xixón, Nava, Cangues, Kuartango (Álava), Valleseco (Gran Canaria), Chelcicko-Lhenický (Czech Republic), Saint-Marcel (Italy), Urrugne (France), Carrazeda de Ansiaes (Portugal) y Celje (Slovenia).
Among the programme’s objectives are to promote gender equality, encourage citizen and youth participation, foster sustainability and the circular economy, and educate about the value of popular heritage and the environment.
Beyond its economic dimension, the approval of CIDEREU represents the recognition of apple and cider culture as an essential part of European heritage, marking the first time that the EU has funded a project focused on this sector. Fernández underlined Xixón’s leadership role as a European cider reference: “It opens the doors of the European Union to us; until now, nothing like this existed,” he affirmed, also recalling the historic support other industries such as wine and beer have received.
For his part, José Ramón Fiaño, president of the Gijón Rural Bank Foundation, expressed his organisation’s pride in having been involved from the very beginning: “It’s a way of defending and protecting cultural heritage — not only of Xixón, but of a culture that unites us as people and as cities.”
Representing the Xixón Chamber of Commerce, its Secretary General, Álvaro Alonso Ordaz, stated that “the Chamber, as the representative of Xixón’s business network, could not fail to be present, to support and promote a project of this nature.” He pointed out that the approval of CIDEREU is “the culmination of past efforts and the starting point for putting them into action through cider, positioning Asturies and Xixón at the centre of the project,” also stressing the importance of the business sector that sustains cider culture.
The event concluded with a speech by Jesús Martínez Salvador, Councillor for Urban Planning, Deputy Mayor, and Government Spokesperson of the Xixón City Council, who emphasised that “this is a very important day for the cider sector. It represents a huge step forward for its consolidation and growth, the confirmation of work well done, and the assurance that the roadmap we’ve drawn is the right one. It’s both an impulse and a motivation to keep going.”
In addition to the representatives of the founding entities and the City Council of Xixón, the event was attended by political representatives from other cities involved in the project, including Nava, Cangas, Chelčicko Lhenicky, and Villaviciosa — the latter currently in the process of joining the European Network of Cider Cities. Numerous hospitality professionals, cider makers, and figures linked to the cider world were also present.
