San Miguel Regla

Less than 3 kilometres northeast of central Huasca, the road drops into ravines and woodland at around 2,060 metres: this is San Miguel Regla. The 2020 census counted 1,130 people in 317 homes, close to three times the 406 recorded in 1960, and the climate is mild with summer rain. The village belongs to the Comarca Minera and to the geopark of the same name, because its origins lie in the silver of Real del Monte.

It takes its name from the refining hacienda that Pedro Romero de Terreros, Count of Regla, built here in the 18th century to process ore. Arches, patios and furnaces survive, and since 1945 the estate has been a hotel with a lake, the chapel of San Miguel Arcángel and boat rides; it has its own page in this guide. Next to it is a red-brick parián with a kiosk where visitors and locals mix at weekends.

Most of the rest is about the forest. On the road in from Huasca is the Bosque de las Truchas, with trout-breeding ponds and fishing; downstream lies the Presa San Antonio. San Miguel Regla is also home ground for the Museo de los Duendes, a wooden house out in the fields built on stories told by local children, adults and elders. Its biggest display is of horses' manes that, so the story goes, goblins braided during the night.