Berducedo – Grandas de Salime
The first two hours of the morning hike where still up at an altitude of 3000 feet. The silence, beauty and remoteness of the path was stunning. Windmills on the top of the mountain added a curious, deep sound in the distance.
Soon after the little village of Mesa (20 inhabitants) the path went constantly downhill. In long and steady spirals it was leading through a dense sweet chestnut forest into the valley to a man made lake.
In former times, bears lived in these mountainous areas. People who kept bees built circular high stone walls in the woods where they kept the beehives so that bears could not get to the honey.
Looking to the far shore of the lake, the white houses seemed to be part of a village- but all were abandoned. They had been houses for the workers building the dam during the Franco era starting in 1954. Also the huge construction plant on the hill is a ruin now.
The town of Grandas de Salime was – like Tineo and Obona – already an important town during the Middle Ages. However, it doubled its size after the village people of Salime had to leave their home because of the building of the dam.
Grandas de Salime has also one of the best ethnographic museums of Spain. It was interesting to walk through the place and see the different workshops of craftsmen.
