31st Mechanized Infantry Regiment "Asturias"

The 31st Mechanized Infantry Regiment "Asturias" (Spanish: Regimiento de Infantería Mecanizada "Asturias" nº 31) is an mechanized infantry unit in the Spanish Army. It was created in the autonomous region of Asturias on July 6, 1703. Its first commander was Álvaro Navia Osorio y Vigil, Viscount of Puerto de Vega and Marquis de Santa Cruz de Marcenado. The regiment initially consisted of 600 men. It was also known as El Cangrejo ("The Crab"), a name which it obtained following the campaign in Roussillon from 1793 to 1795, during which it never retreated. The patron saint of the regiment was Our Lady of Covadonga.