The Picos de Europa National Park is located in the central part of the Cantabrian Mountains, a mountain range that stretches along the coast in Northern Spain.
As the park overlaps parts of the territory of the autonomous communities of Asturias, Cantabria and Castilla y Leon, these communities also have a say in the management of the park.

The area around the Covadonga Lakes  was designated as national park in 1918, the first of its kind in Spain.
In 1995 the park was enlarged to its current size and in 2003 the Picos became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Over time karstification and severe glacial erosion have sculpted the limestone mountain range into the current impressive landscape of steep, towering and ragged peaks separated by wide valleys. As the rocks are very porous, most of the water flows underground into an intricate system of large and extremely deep caves.
At 2645 meters the Pico Torrecerredo is the highest peak, but there are a dozen other 2600-plus giants

The park sports a varied wildlife, with Cantabrian brown bear, Iberian wolf, Golden eagle and Bearded vulture, but without doubt the Cantabrian chamois is the park's signature animal.

The Picos are a popular destination for hikers, climbers and spelunkers but luckily mass tourism has not yet fully discovered this fantastic natural wonder.