Fabero
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Fabero (Fabeiro in Galician language) is a small town in 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 ...
and part of the « Castilla y Leon Autonomia» in north west
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, near Galicia, with a population of about 5000 inhabitants. The climate is continental, with hot and dry summer that can reach 36 °C though only in the daytime; it is generally cool in the evenings because of the surrounding mountains. Rainy autumns and cold winters are common.


Surroundings

It is located in an area which features the mountains and villages of the Sierra de Ancares and the valley of Fornela, and other small villages scattered on the hillsides. The surrounding mountains are covered in oak trees, chestnut trees and pine forests. Wolves and brown bears can be seen in the remote mountain areas, and on rare occasions near the little villages. The town is near the historic city of
Vilafranca Vilafranca is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Ports, in the province of Castellón, Valencian Community, Spain. Prior to 2022, it was part of a different ''comarca'', l'Alt Maestrat. Its official Spanish language name is Villafranca del Cid ...
, a famous stage on the Pilgrims' Way to Compostela (Camino de Santiago), in the comarca of
Bierzo El Bierzo (; ; gl, O Bierzo) is a ''comarca'' in the province of León, Spain. Its capital is the town of Ponferrada. Other major towns are Bembibre and Villafranca del Bierzo, the historical capital. The territory of El Bierzo includes m ...
, the wine-producing area that has become famous for the quality of its wines and vineyards.


Local economy

Fabero was a small farming community of subsistence farmers until the 1920s when
coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
started because of the presence of pure
anthracite Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the hig ...
coal in the ground. By the 1960s the population had risen to almost 10,000 people after a large influx of labour from the south of Spain and
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. The mines were underground and open cast from the 1980s, including the largest open cast coal mine in Spain. The town's famous statue of th
barefoot miner
is well known. The town thrived as a vibrant mining community until the first decade of the 21st century when the closing of most of the coal mines in Spain forced many to leave and find work elsewhere.


Gastronomy

Fabero is in the region of the province of
Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
known as El Bierzo, which is a rich agricultural area, now well known for its wines, chestnuts and horticultural products such as peppers, tomatoes, apples, pears and cherries. A mountainous region, it has a long tradition of quality cured meats, including excellent Serrano hams, chorizo (a spicy sausage) and similar preparations with cured pork meat of which the most popular is ' botillo'.


Culture and festivals

The town is vibrant in summer when th
festive
season is more intense in all the surrounding villages and towns, particularly after mid-June. The town organize
summer courses
in
painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...
and
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
in conjunction with the Fine Arts Department of the
University Complutense of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...
, which are organized by the associate dean of the universit
Tomas Bañuelos Ramón
In 2016 the most famous living Spanish painter, Antonio Lopez, was the special guest, as was the sculptor, Julio Lopez. Both were special guest speakers and they involved themselves in the five-week-long summer courses. Given the
mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
tradition of the area, there is a very interesting Museum of the Mine
Pozo Julia
. This museum traces the history of the mines in the area, the kind of equipment and tools used and the methods of extraction. From a more historical perspective, there is a monument commemorating

made to work in the coal mines after the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. A Celtic settlement an
Neolithic cave paintings
can b
seen
nearby and a glacial lake called th
Pozo Cheiroso
is situated near the town. The Roman past of the province is very visible in the area, particularly in the city of Leon, and one can also visit the remains of the Roman gold mines in the area of Las Medulas. This is a region with a long history dating back to the Middle Ages. The nearby Monastery of San Andres de Espinareda was started in the 12th century though the existing buildings date from the 18th century.


Sport and outdoor activities

The surrounding hills and mountains offer great opportunities for rambling
biking
trekking and horse-riding. The town has an outdoor and indoor swimming pool and a football ground. The local team is in the first regional division. There are leisure centres in nearby Ponferrada.
Trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...
fishing is popular in the local rivers and mountain streams. The town's many bars offer fine wines and beers and an excellent selection of ' tapas' at very reasonable prices.


Twinning

The city is twinned with two towns in Portugal:


See also

* El Bierzo * Manuel Orallo


References

{{Municipalities in León Municipalities in El Bierzo Populated places in the Province of León