Villablino (; Leonese: ''Vitsablinu'') is a municipality located in the

Laciana Laciana, ''Tsaciana'' in Leonese language, is a comarca in the province of León, Spain. It had 11,904 inhabitants in 2005. The rivers of this comarca flow towards the Atlantic Ocean. Local people speak a certain variant of the Leonese language kn ...

comarca of the

province of León León (, , ; ; ) is a province of northwestern Spain in the northern part of the Region of León and in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. About one quarter of its population of 463,746 (2018) lives in the cap ...

in the autonomous community of

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

, Spain. According to the 2011 Census, the municipality had 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.

Geography

Villablino is a mining town in the northern part of the Province of León and is situated on the southern slopes of the

Cantabrian Mountains , etymology=Named after the Cantabri , photo=Cordillera Cantábrica vista desde el Castro Valnera.jpg , photo_caption=Cantabrian Mountains parallel to the Cantabrian Sea seen from Castro Valnera in an east-west direction. In the background, th ...

which form the border with the

Province of Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive ...

. To the north lies

Cangas del Narcea Cangas del Narcea is the oldest municipality in the Principality of Asturias in Spain. It is also the largest municipality in Asturias. It is in the southwest of Asturias, on the Asturian border with León. Formerly, Cangas del Narcea was kn ...

, the largest and oldest municipality in the Province of Asturias, and to the northeast lies

Somiedo Somiedo ( Asturian: Somiedu) is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the north by Belmonte de Miranda, on the east by Teverga, on the west by Tineo and Cangas del Narcea, and on the ...

, also in Asturias. To the east is the municipality of

Cabrillanes Cabrillanes ( Astur-Leonese: ''Vabia d'Arriba'') is a municipality located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. Population According to the 2010 census (INE), Cabrillanes' municipality has a population of 964 inhabitants. Vill ...

and to the southeast, Murias de Paredes, both in León. To the southwest lies the municipality of

Degaña Degaña is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the north by Cangas del Narcea, on the south by the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León Castile, Castille or Castilla may refe ...

and to the west and northwest lies

, 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 Los Barrios de Luna () is a municipality located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2010 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research ce ...

, where the River Luna is dammed to form the

Embalse de Barrios de Luna Embalse is the Spanish word for "reservoir". It is found in many place names. If otherwise unqualified, it might refer to: * Embalse, Córdoba, a town in Argentina. * Embalse nuclear power plant The Embalse Nuclear Power Station ( es, Central N ...

reservoir, and the LE-493 which has access to the north-south autoroute

Autovía A-66 The Autovía A-66 is a major highway in western Spain, part of the European route E803. The road is an upgrade of the N-630 which is being undertaken section by section. The route roughly corresponds to the ancient Roman ' Silver Route' connec ...

La Magdalena Magdalena may refer to: * Magdalena (given name), a given name derived from Mary Magdalene (including a list of people with the name) Entertainment * Magdalena (comics), an American comic book superheroine * ''Magdalena'' (film), a 1920 Czechos ...

. In the area lies the hamlet of

Villabandin Villabandín is a small hamlet, part of 15 or so that lead approximately 100 kilometers North-West from the city of León towards Villablino in Castile and León in north western Spain. It is made up of two parts with less than five residents liv ...

, which is one of the "Dying villages" written about by the Scottish poet

Tom Pow Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

. The area of Villablino has large reserves of

bituminous coal Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the seams. It ...

. The town is located about north of

Ponferrada Ponferrada () is a city of Spain, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Ponferrada, the second most populated municipality of the Province of León, is also the capital city of El Bierzo, the only ''comarca'' recognized as an ...

. The road between the two runs alongside the

River Sil The Sil is a river in León (Castile and León) and Galicia, Spain, a tributary of the Miño. Its total length is . The source of the Sil is in the Cantabrian Mountains in the Leonese town of Villablino. It flows through the provinces of Le ...

and has several collieries on either side. Two of the four coal-fired power stations in the autonomous community of

are adjacent to this road, the northernmost one being at Anllares del Sil, just south of Villablino.

Toponymy

The origin of the name "Villablino" is unclear. The town may have been called after the Roman general Pliny who was outlawed from Rome and installed himself here with his family and retainers in the San Mames (Las Rozas). Alternatively, it may have been named after the Roman patrician, "Flacus", whose name would derive progressively to the term "Territory Platiano" and "Flaciana". Some authorities think it comes from the Celtic term "Allt Cean" or "fortified hill".

References

{{authority control Municipalities in the Province of León

Geography

Toponymy

See also

References