Liébana

Liébana is a comarca of Cantabria (Spain).It covers 570 square kilometres and is located in the southwest of Cantabria, bordering Asturias, León and Palencia. It is made up of the municipalities of: Cabezón de Liébana, Camaleño, Cillorigo de Liébana, Pesaguero, Potes, Tresviso and Vega de Liébana.GeographyLiébana is a closed mountainous comarca, constituted by four valleys that connect in Potes, the centre of the comarca. Its main rivers are the Deva, the Quiviesa and the Buyón. The steep-sided uplands are formed of Carboniferous limestone affected by karstic processes. Shale and sandstone can be found in the bottom of the valleys.The considerable deepness of the valleys, with big differences in altitude and steep slopes creates a great wide variety of environments which allow for a multitude of vegetable species: beeches, holm oaks, cork oaks and other types of oaks, grazing pastures and cultivated crops. Its narrow relief makes it have a microclimate different from the rest of the region, affected by an Atlantic climate. So, while in the bottom of the valley of Liébana a Mediterranean climate can be enjoyed, it shifts progressively as we ascend to a humid Atlantic climate until subalpine conditions are reached in the high peaks of Picos de Europa. The average annual temperatures are 28°C maximum and 8°C minimum, with a lower precipitation rate than in other Cantabrian zones .