The Plaza Mayor is the social hub of Astorga: arcaded on two sides, anchored by the seventeenth-century Baroque town hall on the east, and lined with cafés where pilgrims and locals share the late-afternoon shade. The town hall facade is symmetrical and restrained, but its clock tower carries the most photographed detail in town — two automaton figures in traditional Maragato costume, a man and a woman, who strike the hours together. Locally they are known as Juan Zancuda and Colasa, and watching them at noon is a small civic ritual.
If you have time, settle in at one of the terrace cafés with a coffee and a tile of Astorga chocolate. The plaza catches the evening light especially well.