Somiedo
Worth a detour, and worth planning around the walks rather than the villages. Two nights minimum, three if you walk well.
Brown-bear country with working summer pastures, reached on foot and almost empty outside August.
Lagos de Saliencia · Pola de Somiedo · Braña de La Pornacal · La Peral
At a Glance
- — You want bars, shops and a nightlife — there is one small town and then nothing
Somiedo is a mountain municipality in the Cantabrian range, and the reason to come is that it has been kept in working order rather than turned into a park with a car park attached. Cows and sheep are still taken up to the brañas in summer, to stone huts with thatched roofs where families spend the season making cheese; the brown bears in these valleys are the most numerous in Spain; and the lakes above the valley floor are reached on foot. The villages are half wood smoke and half cattle. Walk, eat, sleep early. There is nothing else here, which is the point.
How it got here
The history of these Cantabrian highlands turns on the seasonal migration of livestock that shaped the land use patterns still visible in the teito huts. Control over these mountain passes changed through the centuries as the Asturias region moved from the kingdom of the Astures to the medieval kingdom of Asturias and eventually the unified Spanish state. The remoteness protected these valleys from the rapid shifts seen in lowland plains. Families maintained the transhumance cycle of moving herds to high summer pastures for generations to secure grazing rights. This persistence of traditional pastoralism dictated the architecture and social structure of the villages, keeping the landscape functional rather than decorative.
Where it sits
Limestone peaks rise sharply from deep valleys carved by the rivers and glaciers of the Cantabrian range. The terrain demands constant climbing to reach the glacial lakes and high meadows that define the geography. Access requires winding roads that climb from the Asturian coast into the mountain interior. Winters bring heavy snow that seals the high passes, while summers keep the valley floors cool. The silence of the range is broken only by the sound of cattle bells. This remains a place of primary labor where the scale of the mountains humbles the sparse human settlements clinging to the slopes.
What to eat and drink
Caldereta de cordero, a lamb stew cooked with onions, garlic, and peppers, provides the necessary fuel for this high altitude climate. The local cheese, Queso de Afuega'l Pitu, appears in both mild and piquant versions, often shaped in small molds. The diet relies heavily on the output of the summer pastures, specifically butter and cured meats. Fabada asturiana, a slow-cooked stew of white beans, chorizo, and morcilla, defines the winter table. Cider, the acidic, unfiltered drink of Asturias, accompanies every meal, poured from height to aerate the liquid and release the sharp scent of pressed apples.
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 and around Somiedo
In Asturias
In Asturias
In Asturias
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