Villablino, Spain

Villablino is a municipality located in the Laciana comarca, province of León, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2011 Census, the municipality has a population of 10,353 inhabitants. It has the largest commercial, economic and social center of Northwest province, and it is one of the judicial districts in the province of León.GeographyVillablino is a mining town in the northern part of the Province of León and is situated on the southern slopes of the Cantabrian Mountains which form the border with the Province of Asturias. To the north lies Cangas del Narcea, the largest and oldest municipality in the Province of Asturias, and to the northeast lies Somiedo, also in Asturias. To the east is the municipality of Cabrillanes and to the southeast, Murias de Paredes, both in León. To the southwest lies the municipality of Degaña and to the west and northwest lies Cangas del Narcea, both in Asturias.The rocks in this area are some of the oldest in Spain, being four hundred to six hundred million years old. The climate is characterised by warm, sunny summers contrasting with cold winters. Trekkers visit the area in summer and there are ski resorts in some of the nearby villages. Villablino is on the C-623 main road, which runs from Los Barrios de Luna, where the River Luna is dammed to form the Embalse de Barrios de Luna reservoir, and the LE-493 which has access to the north-south autoroute Autovía A-66 at La Magdalena. In the area lies the hamlet of Villabandin, which is one of the "Dying villages" written about by the Scottish poet Tom Pow.