Braña de La Pornacal
Recommended, and the clearest explanation of how these mountains are farmed. Walk in, look, walk out.
Twelve thatched huts on a high pasture, the surviving centre of a way of farming these mountains.
At a Glance
- — You want a visitor centre — there is nothing here but huts and grass
La Pornacal is a braña — a summer settlement of stone huts with thatched straw roofs, built so families could take the cows up to high pasture from June to September and make cheese there. The huts are still standing, a dozen of them in a row on a shelf of green above the valley, with a hedge and a fence and no service of any kind, and they are the best surviving example of the system in Asturias. You can walk to it in about forty minutes from Villar de Vildas, or reach it by a track from the road. It is a working landscape, not a museum, and the cows will be there when the season is right.
How it got here
Transhumance shaped the high pastures of the Cordillera Cantábrica for centuries. Families migrated from the valleys to these seasonal settlements to graze livestock during the short summer months. The economy of Somiedo relied on this movement of cattle into the high mountain meadows where communal life centered on the production of artisanal cheese. These stone buildings with their distinctive teito roofs made of broom or heather provided the necessary shelter for the shepherds and their herds. The structures continue to indicate the traditional management of land use in this part of Asturias, where the collective cycle of seasonal occupation determined the architecture and organization of the landscape.
Where it sits
Deep valleys carved by glacial activity define the topography of Somiedo. The terrain climbs sharply from the village of Villar de Vildas toward the high ridges where alpine grass dominates. Lush green slopes support heavy grazing, and shifting mountain mists often obscure the paths. Snow blocks the high passes during the winter months, forcing the cattle and people back into the lower settlements. The silence of the high sierra holds throughout the spring and autumn, while the summer months bring the faint sound of cowbells across the open meadows. Footpaths connect the valley floors to these high summer outposts.
What to eat and drink
The food of the high Asturian mountains focuses on the preservation of dairy and the use of hardy mountain crops. Queso de Cabrales, a sharp and pungent blue cheese matured in limestone caves, represents the traditional output of these pastures. Caldo asturiano, a dense soup of white beans, potatoes, kale, and cured pork, provides the warmth required by the high altitude climate. Cider production remains the primary craft of the province, and the sharp, unfiltered liquid flows from the bottle into the glass with force. Hearty stews made with local beef or goat form the basis of the diet in the villages below the summer huts.
Asturias: the whole region
Asturias fits a whole coast, a mountain range and a serious kitchen into a province you can cross in two hours. Cider poured from a height, blue cheese, working fishing ports, and the Picos de Europa standing over all of it. It rains often…
Minimum 4 days · better 7 days · deep 10-12 days
In Asturias
In Asturias
In Asturias
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