Live cameras in Mieres, Spain

Mieres is a valley town in the center of Asturias, on the Caudal river about twenty kilometers south of Oviedo. For more than a century it was the heart of Spain's coal country, and the green hills around it are still marked by pithead towers, rail lines and workers' villages in side valleys such as Turón. At the height of mining in the 1960s the municipality had around 70,000 residents. Today it has about 36,000, and the economy has turned toward services, a University of Oviedo campus and industrial heritage tourism. The town center, Mieres del Camín, takes its name from the old route toward León and Castile that ran through the valley. On the eve of June 24 the town lights a great San Juan bonfire, and a spring festival celebrates Asturian cider and Celtic music.

What the cameras show

The cameras grouped under Mieres are run by the DGT, the Dirección General de Tráfico, Spain's national traffic authority. Pictures arrive as stills on a cycle of a few minutes. In this valley they mostly watch the main north-south corridor between central Asturias and the Meseta, the A-66 motorway along the Caudal, which continues south as the AP-66 toll road through the Huerna tunnels, while the older N-630 climbs over the Pajares pass. On a winter day they reveal whether the climb toward the mountains is wet, white or simply crowded.

Asturias shares Madrid's clock, Central European Time, even though it lies well west of Greenwich, so the evenings run late. The climate is wet and green, with frequent rain and low cloud in the valley, especially from autumn to spring. Snow is uncommon in the town itself but regular on the mountain passes to the south, so the cameras are worth checking before crossing into León. Long summer evenings bring light until about ten at night around the June solstice.

Nearby, the Pozo Santa Bárbara mine headframe in Turón is a protected landmark of mining heritage, and Oviedo's old town and cathedral are a short drive north along the motorway.

Sources: Mieres - Wikipedia · AP-66 motorway - Wikipedia · DGT infocar traffic information (Spain).