MIERES

town, Asturias provincia and comunidad autnoma (autonomous community), northwestern Spain. Mieres lies south-southeast of Oviedo city. Until 1836 it was governed by the municipal corporation of Lena, but since that time it has been an independent administrative entity. The town is a mining and industrial centre with iron, sulfur, hard and soft coal, and mercury mines nearby. It also has blast furnaces, steel furnaces, zinc smelters, and factories specializing in the manufacture and repair of motors and machinery for mining and for general industry. The parish church of San Juan, originally established by a grant of King Ordoo I of Asturias in AD 857, has Romanesque columns and capitals. Mieres is situated on the railway lines between Madrid and Gijn. Pop. (1981) 58,098; (1991 prelim.) 53,379.