Camaleño

Camaleño municipality
View of the village of Arenos and the Picos de Europa
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Cantabria
Comarca :	Liébana
Coordinates	43 ° 9 ′  N , 4 ° 42 ′  W Coordinates: 43 ° 9 ′  N , 4 ° 42 ′  W
Height :	410  msnm
Area :	161.10 km²
Residents :	936 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	5.81 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	39571
Municipality number  ( INE ):	39015
administration
Website :	Camaleño

Camaleño is a place and a municipality ( municipio ) with 936 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the west of the autonomous region of Cantabria in Spain .

location

The over 30 villages of the municipality of Camaleño, through which the Río Deva flows, are located at altitudes of 350 to 650 meters above sea level. d. M .; the small neighboring town of Potes is about six kilometers (driving distance) to the west. The closest major city is Santander, about 110 kilometers northeast .

Population development

year	1960	1970	1981	1991	2001	2014
Residents	2,236	1,807	1,402	1,327	1.101	1,001

In the middle of the 19th century the community already had about 1,900 inhabitants; in the 1940 census it was more than 2,700. The mechanization of agriculture resulted in a significant population decline in the second half of the 20th century. The community consists of 35 villages and hamlets, each with around 5 to 150 inhabitants, including Cosgaya with around 50 inhabitants.

Economy and Infrastructure

The soils and the comparatively rainy but mild climate were well suited for the cultivation of grain, wine and vegetables, whereby the inhabitants of earlier centuries lived largely as self-sufficient in this regard ; dairy farming as well as pigs and chickens were also operated. Since the middle of the 20th century, tourism in the form of renting holiday apartments ( casas rurales ) has developed into a not insignificant economic factor, which has been revived again in 1995 with the creation of the Picos de Europa National Park .

history

Nothing is known about the early history of the area, because neither the Celts and the Romans, nor the Visigoths and Moors left any traces on the municipality. The 13th century Torre de Mogrovejo is the oldest architectural testimony.

Attractions

Mogrovejo village

• Apart from the scenic attractions of the area, the individual villages of the municipality of Camaleño have hardly any sights.
• Exceptions are the Santo Toribio de Liébana monastery and the medieval keep ( torre de homenaje ) of Mogrovejo .
• A well-known excursion destination is also the high valley Fuente Dé, about 16 kilometers to the west, with its cable car station.

Surroundings

• Excursions to the pre-Romanesque church of Santa María de Lebeña, 16 kilometers northeast, and to the Romanesque church of Santa María de Piasca in the neighboring municipality of Cabezón de Liébana are also recommended.

Web links

Commons : Camaleño  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Liébana and the Picos de Europa

Personalities

• Toribio de Mogrovejo (1538–1606), Bishop of Lima and missionary to the Indians

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).