Spreading along the south-west of the Leon province, the Teleno mountains offer a dazzling natural paradise, which has kept its autochthonous charm thanks to the sparse population that still today exists in most of the Spanish interior.
The Teleno is the highest peak (2.188 metres) of an extensive massif: the “Montes de Leon”, which holds a large number of peaks over 2.000 metres of height. The most important and representative town in this broad area is the historic Astorga, founded by the Romans with the name of “Asturica Augusta”. Throughout its long history Astorga has witnessed different extremely relevant events, including a terrifying battle against the invading Napoleonic forces. Among its artistic and historic wonders stand out the impressive roman walls and excavations, the Cathedral (whose current appearance is the result of the application of various architectonic  styles through several centuries), the charming Main Square with the “maragatos” on the clock of the City Hall tower, the adjacent typical streets, and the breathtaking Episcopal Palace –one of the masterpieces of the futuristic genius Salvador Dalí-.
Just like any relevant ancient site, Astorga is conveniently located on the top of a hill that, on his western side, directly faces the “Sierra del Teleno”. Likewise, what can be spotted from any point of the ancient walls belongs to the area named “La Maragatería”, of which Astorga is the capital. This partly explains the previous reference to the “maragatos” of the City Hall clock. The “maragatos” are obviously the inhabitants of the “Maragatería”, and what you can see on the famous clock is two “maragato-dolls” on either side of the bell, one man and one woman dressed in the typical costume. They are the ones who strike the hours by hitting the bell with one mallet each.
Once we leave the citadel behind on the way to the Teleno Mountains, we enter an impressive and endless pinewood spreading in every direction for several tens of kilometres. This colossal pinewood reaches well beyond “La Maragateria”, penetrating the Zamora province and practically touching Galicia and Portugal. The side pointing to Galicia is far more mountainous as the “Montes de Leon” basically spread in that direction, and we can thus go through the harsh beauty of the still today quite isolated “Sierra de la Cabrera”.
This whole area of hundreds of square kilometres covered with pines does never go under 900 metres of height. The weather is, on the other hand, pretty dry with bitterly cold nights for practically six months per year, whereas in the summertime the temperatures can be relatively high in daytime. Villages are scattered along all this intense green extension, proliferating more easily in the warmer and less bushy areas.
The pinewood has traditionally been one of the most important means of subsistence and development for the local community. Its main sources of wealth are two: resin and a highly heating firewood. But this rich ecosystem, due to its very specific features, has also been permanently exposed to the dangers of human meanness and stupidity: Arson has so far represented the biggest threat for the sustainability of this natural wonder. Shepherds seeking to spread the pasture surface, revenge among locals and negligence in general have usually been the cornerstones of a permanent challenge for the Teleno pinewoods. Every fire on this area causes a damage that requires about thirty years only for the flora’s recovery, leaving the rich wildlife in an increasingly dramatic situation.
But if that wasn’t enough, the governing authorities and the Ministry of Defence decided one day to also make their peculiar contribution to the sustainable development of the locality: they awarded this place with the settlement of a shooting ground for the Army, for which the land expropriation procedures started around 1981. Seen from a wicked perspective, this place perfectly fulfilled all the secret criteria applied in the decision process: sparse population, poor educational level, absence of nationalist claims, traditional respect for authority, sufficient number of stingy and ingratiating mayors… So why try to go elsewhere?
Since the shooting ground started operating several hideous fires have taken place as a result not only of the potential risk obviously involved in the activity itself, but what is even worse: as a result of the negligence and impunity the military has been operating with. Some ecologist associations even claim that the death of certain locals has been directly linked with the military activities. However, the few judicial procedures started in these respects have only led to confirm the pathetic role played by Justice in our country as a mere tool of power.
But as worrisome as the context actually is, there are also reasons for hope: In an area where the employment prospects for the youth are objectively obscure, many of those young people reject to leave their land and try to make a sustainable living by promoting and performing different activities that combine wealth creation, fulfilment of local needs and environmental preservation. A good number of these youths, with others not that young, started promoting years ago different ecologist organisations and free newspapers and magazines. The result has been extremely positive in the sense that the local community has gained a great deal of awareness with regard to its rights, the imponderable value of its ecosystem and the various possibilities of sustainable development in the area.
Hats off to these people.