Riaño

Due to planned construction of a dam and reservoir in the 1980s, for flood control and generation of hydroelectric power, the village and its lowlying farmland were submerged, as were six other villages in the associated dam project. The residents were relocated to New Riaño, built as a replacement higher above the reservoir waters. In 2010 the village had 532 residents.

• Name — Riaño • Type — Municipality • Image Flag — Bandera de Riaño.svg • Image Shield — Escudo de Riaño.svg • Pushpin Map — Spain • Pushpin Caption — Location in Spain • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Type1 — Autonomous community • Subdivision Name — Spain • Subdivision Name1 — Castile and León • Subdivision Type2 — Province • Subdivision Name2 — León • Subdivision Type3 — Comarca • Subdivision Name3 — Montaña de Riaño • Leader Title — Mayor • Leader Name — Manuel Javier Fernández Presa • Area Total Km2 — 97.63 • Elevation M — 1112 • Population As Of — population_as_of • Population Footnotes — population_footnotes • Population Total — population_total • Population Density Km2 — auto • Population Demonym — Riañéses • Time Zone1 — CET • Utc Offset1 — +1 • Time Zone1 Dst — CEST • Utc Offset1 Dst — +2 • Postal Code Type — Postal code • Postal Code — 24900 • Website — www.mriano.com Riaño is a town and municipality located along the Esla River in the mountains of the province of León, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, northern Spain. Located 1,100 metres above sea level, it is in the Cantabrian Mountains near the foothills of the Picos de Europa. The village is across the reservoir from Pico Gilbo. Due to planned construction of a dam and reservoir in the 1980s, for flood control and generation of hydroelectric power, the village and its lowlying farmland were submerged, as were six other villages in the associated dam project. The residents were relocated to New Riaño, built as a replacement higher above the reservoir waters. In 2010 the village had 532 residents.

Located on the banks of the Riaño reservoir, Pico Gilbo (1679 m) is also known as the Leonese Matterhorn, due to its slender and characteristic northern slope that resembles the Matterhorn in the Alps. Despite not being the highest in the area – Pico Pandián, Yordas and Peñas Pintas are higher – it is its most characteristic peak and the most photographed. The two most common ascent routes are from Riaño and from Horcadas. Beginning from the viaduct across Riaño, a circular route to the summit is 8.2 km long with 675 m of elevation gain. • Illustration — Panorama from the summit of Pico Gilbo, with Riaño on the right in the distance. The arms of the lake are known as the Leonese fjords.

• Imanol Arias, film actor