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

Laciana Laciana, ''Ḷḷaciana'' in Leonese language (also written ''Tsaciana''), 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 va ...

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 c ...

in the autonomous community of

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

, 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 The Cantabrian Mountains or Cantabrian Range () are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. They stretch for over 300 km (180 miles) across northern Spain, from the western limit of the Pyrenees to the Galician Massif ...

which form the border with the Province of Asturias. 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. Until 1927, Cangas del Narcea was kno ...

, 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 Murias de Paredes is a municipality located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating ...

, both in León. To the southwest lies the municipality of

Degaña Degaña is a municipality in the autonomous community of the Asturias, Spain. As of 2023, the population stood at 805. It is located in the Cantabrian Mountains, and bordered on the north by Cangas del Narcea, on the south by Castile and León, a ...

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, 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 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 was undertaken section by section. The route roughly corresponds to the ancient Roman ' Silver Route' connecting ...

La Magdalena Magdalena may refer to: * Magdalena (given name), a feminine given name derived from Mary Magdalene (including a list of persons with the name) Entertainment * Magdalena (comics), an American comic book superheroine * ''Magdalena'' (film), a 19 ...

. In the area lies the hamlet of Villabandin, which is one of the "Dying villages" written about by the Scottish poet Tom Pow. 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 coal seam, ...

. 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 Comarcas of Spain, ''comarca'' ...

. The road between the two runs alongside the River Sil and has several collieries on either side. Two of the four

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate ...

s 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