Val de San Lorenzo, a tiny town in the province of León, found itself in a deep freeze. On Monday morning, it recorded a temperature unmatched by any other populated place in Spain: minus 9.6 degrees Celsius. Yet, despite the chill, daily life carried on. Children’s laughter still echoes on the streets, shops remain open, and adults hurry about their business as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. For the locals, this is not a disaster, but rather the long-awaited return of a real winter they have been waiting for since the season began.
“We’re used to this,” says the owner of one of the village hotels. According to her, even in such cold, people are in no rush to change their routines. Children play outside, adults catch up on the latest news at the local bar, and there’s no sign of panic buying in the shops. Everyone knows the main thing is to dress right. And Val de San Lorenzo has its own secret—woolen clothing made here for centuries.
Tradition and the cold
In this town, once home to hundreds of weaving looms, traditions are still treasured. Today, no more than a dozen workshops survive, but locals are convinced their wool products offer the best protection from the cold. “Hat, scarf, gloves, and, of course, wool socks—all locally made,” one resident proudly shares. She believes that’s exactly what helps the community comfortably endure even the harshest frosts.
The owner of the bar ‘José’ notes that such temperatures used to be common, but this year the winter has lingered. ‘We had been waiting for this cold for several weeks,’ he admits. Indeed, for Val de San Lorenzo, such frosts are not a cause for panic, but rather a return to normal life. No extra precautions are taken here, as everyone knows how to protect themselves from the cold.
A test for the region
While Val de San Lorenzo is calmly enduring the frosts, other areas in the province of León are facing similar challenges. On the same day, in Cubillas de Rueda, a small town in the eastern part of the province, temperatures dropped to minus 9 degrees. The rest of the coldest places ranking is mainly made up of ski resorts and high mountain passes, where subzero readings are the norm.
The lowest temperature recorded in the country was minus 13.6 degrees in Cabaña Verónica, in the heart of the Picos de Europa National Park in Cantabria. This was followed by ski resort peaks in Lleida and Huesca, where thermometers fell to minus 12.8 and minus 11.3, respectively. But it was Val de San Lorenzo that became the coldest populated town in Spain.
Winter mobilization
Due to a sharp drop in temperatures, authorities have issued a yellow weather alert for snowfall in the Cantabrian Mountains in León. The warning is expected to remain in effect the following day and may be extended to other areas of Castilla y León, Catalonia, Madrid, and Cantabria. The Ministry of Transport has increased the fleet of snow removal machinery to 659 units and prepared over 126,000 tons of road treatment agents. Drivers are urged to exercise extra caution on highways, where drifting snow and traffic jams are possible.
Over the past week, only one day in Val de San Lorenzo was relatively warm — January 3, with the minimum temperature at 4.6 degrees. The highest was recorded on December 30 — 10.2 degrees. But as early as December 26, the town was again among the coldest places in the country, dropping to minus 7.7 degrees. The forecast for the coming days promises a slight warm-up: nighttime lows to minus 3, daytime highs reaching up to 9 degrees.
Children and the cold
It is especially noteworthy that even in such cold weather, children continue to play outside. For locals, this is nothing to worry about — it’s simply a way of life. Parents are confident that when a child is wrapped in warm wool, no cold can harm them. There’s something truly Spanish about this — not fighting the elements, but living in harmony with them.
Val de San Lorenzo demonstrates how tradition and community spirit help people face any test of the elements. Here, no one looks for reasons to panic—they simply carry on as they always have. Perhaps this is the key to their resilience in the face of harsh winters.
