Vecilla (La)

The school bell rings at 14:00 and La Vecilla suddenly swells with children pouring into the single playground. For ten minutes the village centre echoes with shouts and footballs, then the bus departs and 300 residents regain their usual rhythm. This is daily life at 1,000 m in the Montaña Central leonesa, where the valley narrows to a pinch point the Curueño river has taken centuries to carve.

Stone houses with timber balconies line the main street, but they share space with 1970s apartment blocks and a functional concrete civic centre. La Vecilla never aimed to be a museum; it functions as the service hub for a scatter of hamlets higher up the valley. You will find a butcher, a small supermarket, a pharmacy and two bar-restaurants that open onto the pavement. On Mondays both kitchens close – plan ahead or drive 25 minutes to Boñar for a plate of cocido.

Altitude and appetite

Height matters here. Even in May night temperatures can dip to 5 °C, and the first snow often arrives before December has finished. The surrounding oak, beech and pine woods trap moisture, so walking boots with grip are sensible in every season. Locals claim the air “makes you hungry”; certainly the menu is built for calories. Expect cecina de León air-dried beef, mountain cheeses and stews that arrive in deep earthenware bowls. A set lunch (three courses, bread, wine, coffee) costs €14 at Bar Curueño on Plaza de España, served between 13:30 and 15:30 sharp. Arrive late and the day's guiso will be gone.

Paths that leave the river behind

A way-marked path starts behind the church, crosses the cattle grid and climbs gently beside irrigation channels built in the 1950s. After 40 minutes you reach a stone shepherd's hut; from here the track splits. Turn left and you contour through holm oak to the mirador at Cueto de la Muela, a natural balcony over the valley floor 400 m below. The round trip takes two hours, requires no technical skill and is the safest bet when cloud is drifting across the higher summits.

Fit walkers can continue upward to Puerto de las Señales, 1,850 m, following the old freight route that once connected La Vecilla with the coal mines of Sabero. Allow five hours return and carry water – there is none above the tree line. In winter these upper paths hold snow until April; without crampons the ridge is best left alone.

Autumn baskets, spring rods

October transforms the woods into a mushroom supermarket. Boletus, níscalos and trumpets appear after the first rains, and villagers head out at dawn with knives and wicker baskets. Spanish law is strict: pick only what you can identify, use a knife to cut stems, and stay within the 5 kg daily limit. Foreign visitors are welcome but nobody will thank you for filling a rucksack without checking locality rules posted at the town hall door.

Come April the focus shifts to the river. The Curueño is a tributary of the Esla and holds a healthy population of brown trout. Day permits (€12) are sold online or at the tobacconist's; fishing is fly-only, catch-and-release between 1 April and 30 June. The best pools lie upstream from the bridge on the CL-623 – look for the deeper water under the poplars. Even if the trout win, the water is clean enough for a picnic on the bank.

When the village doubles in size

Fiestas begin on 15 August when emigrants return from Madrid, Bilbao and further afield. The population briefly tops 600, the plaza fills with folding tables, and a sound system appears for nightly orquestas. A modest fireworks display is launched from the football field at midnight; bring a jacket because even midsummer can drop to 12 °C once the music stops. Accommodation is scarce during the week-long programme – book apartments early or base yourself in Boñar and drive up the valley.

Winter is quieter. Christmas Eve mass starts at 20:00; afterwards neighbours share shortbread-style mantecados in the church porch. If you are invited to a matanza – the traditional pig slaughter now reduced to a handful of households – expect to be offered fresh morcilla and a glass of red at nine in the morning. Politeness requires you taste; vegetarian convictions require diplomacy.

Getting there, staying there

Leon is the nearest city, 55 km distant and served by daily AVE trains from Madrid (2 h 10 min). From Leon's bus station Monday-to-Friday service line 303 departs at 15:30, reaching La Vecilla at 17:05. The return bus leaves at 07:15; miss it and a taxi costs €70. Driving is simpler: take the A-66 north, exit at Buiza, then follow the CL-623 for 29 km of winding but well-surfaced road. Fuel in the village is non-existent – fill the tank in La Robla before you climb.

The only place to sleep in the village itself is Apartamentos Rurales El Curueño, three self-catering flats above the bakery. Studios run €60 a night with minimum two-night stay; WhatsApp +34 987 68 XX XX (Spanish helps, though owner Marta manages basic English). Bedding, olive oil and coffee are provided; bring milk and anything fancier than supermarket Rioja. Alternative: Casa Rural La Posada del Monasterio in Villamanín, 12 km back down the road, doubles from €70 including breakfast.

Honest forecast

La Vecilla offers mountain quiet without the Pyrenean price tag, but it demands flexibility. Weather can erase a walking plan in minutes, Monday closures leave self-caterers raiding the only supermarket's tinned-goods aisle, and English is rarely spoken. Come prepared, treat the place as a working community rather than a backdrop, and the valley repays with river pools you will have to yourself and bar conversations that end with homemade orujo poured from a plastic lemonade bottle. If that sounds like effort, save the trip for Segovia's better-known villages. If it sounds like participation, the mountains are waiting.