AVILS

city, Asturias provincia and comunidad autnoma (autonomous community), northwestern Spain. It lies along the Ra (inlet) de Avils, an inlet of the Bay of Biscay. A summer resort with beaches at nearby Salinas, the city has an iron and steel industry and a fishing fleet, and it exports coal from the Asturias mines. Avils is rich in medieval architecture, its outstanding examples including the Gothic churches of San Nicols and San Francisco. The Church of San Toms contains the tomb of Pedro Menndez de Avils, founder of St. Augustine, Fla. The Fuero de Avils (1155), a statute by which Alfonso VII of Castile freed the city from its feudal ties, was significant in the development of medieval Spanish law. Pop. (1981) 86,584.