Potes is the capital of Liébana, a hidden-away valley in Cantabria that is walled in by the Picos de Europa on three sides and so mild and sheltered that it grows fruit and grapes at the foot of mountains that still carry snow in June. The town sits where the rivers Deva and Quiviesca meet, under a square medieval tower, the Torre del Infantado, with stone bridges, arcaded houses and narrow streets climbing away from the water. It has only a little over a thousand residents, which is why everybody on the street seems to know everybody else.
The valley has more history than its size would suggest. Just outside town is the monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana, said to hold the largest surviving fragment of the True Cross. It makes the valley one of the few places in the world that celebrates a Holy Year, and pilgrims arrive on the Camino Lebaniego from the coast. In the eighth century a monk of Liébana, Beatus, wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse whose lavishly painted copies became some of the great treasures of Spanish medieval art. The cooking is a reward for the effort of getting here: cocido lebaniego, a stew of chickpeas, cabbage and pork, hard to beat in cold weather, along with the local cheeses and the clear, strong orujo, a grape spirit that you will be offered after a meal.
The riding is exceptional but not easy. Coming from the north, the road squeezes through the Desfiladero de la Hermida, a gorge some twenty kilometres long, where limestone walls rise sheer from the river and the road clings to the bank with barely any shoulder. Rockfall is a real risk after rain, and the tunnels and narrow sections need care. South and west, mountain roads climb to passes toward the meseta of Castilla. The best excursion from Potes is the road up to Fuente Dé, which ends beneath a great horseshoe of cliffs, and the cable car there lifts you about eight hundred metres in minutes to the high plateau.
Potes has fuel, supermarkets, and many restaurants, but beyond the valley services are sparse, with Llanes on the coast the nearest larger town. The weather is changeable, with mist and sudden rain, even in summer. Early autumn gives the kindest light, with golden chestnut woods, while market day brings the local farmers down in force.