Potes

Potes sits at the junction of four valleys in the Liebana, enclosed by mountains and enjoying a microclimate mild enough for vines and olives at four hundred metres in Cantabria. The old quarter is stone with wooden balconies along the Quiviesa and Deva rivers, crossed by the medieval Puente de San Cayetano, and dominated by the Torre del Infantado, a fourteenth-century tower house rebuilt as a town hall and exhibition space. Much of the town was destroyed in 1937 and rebuilt in the same style. It is the base for the Liebana: Santo Toribio monastery, the Fuente De cable car and the southern approaches to the Picos, and it is known for orujo, a grape spirit celebrated at a November festival.

What you actually see

• The Torre del Infantado - a fourteenth-century tower house at the centre.
• The stone quarter - balconied houses along the two rivers.
• The medieval bridge - the San Cayetano crossing over the Deva.
• The orujo tradition - a grape spirit with its own November festival.

When to go

May to October for the Picos season; the November orujo festival fills the town. Winter is cold and the mountain roads can be difficult. Summer weekends bring heavy traffic through the narrow centre.

Honest expectations

Much of the old town is post-1937 rebuilding after wartime destruction. Parking is very limited and the centre congests in summer. The town is small and the interest is largely as a base.

Nearby

Santo Toribio is three kilometres west; Fuente De and the Picos lie up the valley.