What you can see on the Posada de Valdeón webcam
The camera looks down over the houses and tiled roofs of Posada, its meadows and stone walls, with wooded slopes and pale limestone peaks closing the view: it shows the weather on the valley floor and whether there is snow on the tops. High above the village, the Collado Jermoso refuge, at 2,064 m (6,772 ft), streams the bare limestone around its hut, with a snow pole and a panel of weather readings: it has its own page, the Collado Jermoso webcam.
Posada de Valdeón from the hillside
The town council of Posada de Valdeón streams this live view from a hillside above the village. In the foreground are bracken and oak scrub; below lie the houses of Posada with their orange tiled roofs, a large red-roofed building in the middle, gardens and stone-walled meadows. Further up the valley, more houses and a small pool of water lie among the fields, and steep, wooded slopes rise to the pale limestone peaks of the Picos de Europa at the top of the frame.
It is the camera for the valley floor: whether the meadows are green or white with frost, whether cloud is down on the village and how much snow lies on the peaks. In autumn the slopes turn orange and gold.
The heart of the Picos de Europa
The valley is often called the heart of the Picos de Europa. The River Cares runs through it from south to north, and at its far end, beyond the hamlet of Caín, it plunges into the Cares gorge, followed by the most famous footpath in the range, a trail cut into the cliffs that leads to Puente Poncebos in Asturias. The highest summit of the Picos, Torre Cerredo, about 2,650 m (8,690 ft), stands on the municipality's border with Asturias, and part of its land belonged to the first national park in Spain, created in 1918 and now the Picos de Europa National Park. Winters up here are severe: on 7 January 2021 a station at Vega de Liordes, in the high mountains of Valdeón, recorded −35.8 °C (−32.4 °F).
When to watch Posada de Valdeón
Spain is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. Clouds often fill the valleys while the peaks stand in sunshine, or the other way round, so it is worth comparing the village view with the camera at the refuge, high above. Snow comes to the high peaks in autumn and lies late into spring; the woods around the village turn gold and red in October.
Around Posada de Valdeón
Caín, the start of the Cares gorge walk, is at the end of the valley road. Valdeón is also known for its blue cheese, wrapped in leaves. On the Cantabrian side of the central massif, the cable car of Fuente Dé climbs to the high plateau, from where walkers can reach Collado Jermoso.
Getting to Posada de Valdeón
Santander, with its ferry port and airport, is about 60 miles (97 km) away as the crow flies, and Asturias airport about the same. Mountain roads reach the valley over the Pandetrave pass from Portilla de la Reina, in León, or the Panderruedas pass from Sajambre; in winter, check whether they are open before setting off.
