The Revilla River: a tributary of the Miera in Riotuerto
The Revilla River, also called Revilla stream in administrative documents, is a tributary of the Miera in the municipality of Riotuerto. The Cantabrian Hydrographic Confederation (CHC) lists a natural water body under this name, measuring 5.34 km with a catchment area of 27.5 km². An older informative guide to the Miera gives a length of 8.3 km. This does not match the boundaries of the current water body, so it is retained only as a historical reference and is not combined with the current planning figure.
Headwaters and course
The available technical documents do not identify one spring or a verifiable elevation for the source. The mapped water body lies in Riotuerto, and its lower reach passes through Revilla neighbourhood in La Cavada before joining the Miera. Around Barrio de Arriba, the name Covadal is also used for the river or valley. Some general-interest sources treat it as another name for the Revilla, while Riotuerto Town Council lists Covadal and Revilla separately. This guide leaves that distinction open rather than asserting that they are certainly the same watercourse.
The CHC maps the stream from the rural area of Riotuerto towards La Cavada and the Miera. The current river-basin plan gives a shorter length than the old general-interest guide. These figures describe different documentary boundaries; the available evidence does not justify resolving the difference by arbitrarily choosing one.
Tributaries and its connection with the Miera
The final confluence with the Miera is documented. The CHC has carried out maintenance work along about 900 metres of the stream upstream from the junction. A municipal map of river maintenance projects shows the Revilla and nearby streams, including the Miera and Bencaño, but it does not provide a complete tributary inventory or verify each confluence. This guide therefore does not give a definitive list of smaller tributaries.
The catchment belongs to the Pas–Miera system and the protected river corridor of the Miera. The 2022–2027 River Basin Management Plan identifies “Río Revilla” as a separate water body. The administrative basin label does not alter the physical relationship: the Revilla flows into the Miera.
What to see along the stream
Revilla bridge and neighbourhood in La Cavada
The bridge in Revilla neighbourhood, on Avenida de Alisas, is a recognisable public place from which to view the stream. A structural rehabilitation project for the bridge was approved in 2023; municipal news in 2022 also recorded bank-protection work at Fuentemolino. In June 2026, the rehabilitation project was debated by the town council. These references do not confirm the current state of the works: follow signs and do not enter the watercourse or private property.
La Vega riverbank and Los Mirones
In 2024, Spain’s Official State Gazette published an application for works to protect a sewer and restore the Revilla’s left bank at La Vega or Los Mirones, in La Revilla neighbourhood, La Cavada. The proposed intervention covered about 20 metres and included restoring the natural slope and planting riverside trees. This is a conservation and landscape reference, not a recreation area or an officially open footpath.
Barrio de Arriba and the name Covadal
Riotuerto Town Council lists Covadal among the municipality’s watercourses and places Barrio de Arriba in a valley that local sources associate with this name. Its rural roads help visitors explore the area, but they are not described as a waymarked riverside trail and are not guaranteed to follow the Revilla. Check the route on municipal maps, respect private land and cross the stream only at suitable public crossings.
A small stream in a valuable river basin
The Revilla drains into the Miera, a river basin protected for its freshwater and riverside habitats. The CHC has documented dredging and maintenance in the stream, alongside municipal bank-protection work. Works and access conditions may change. The sources consulted do not identify an authorised bathing area or a continuous riverside route.
Sources
- Cantabrian Hydrographic Confederation, River Basin Management Plan 2022–2027, Annex XIV: Río Revilla water-body record: natural water body, 5.34 km in length, 27.5 km² catchment and Pas–Miera system.
- Cantabrian Hydrographic Confederation, Riotuerto map of river-maintenance and conservation works: mapped course and context of the municipality’s watercourses.
- Cantabrian Hydrographic Confederation, third-cycle flood-risk maps: Arroyo Revilla in Riotuerto and its confluence with the Miera.
- Riotuerto Town Council, municipal information: lists Covadal, Revilla, Canónigo and Miera separately among local watercourses.
- Riotuerto Town Council, works at Fuentemolino: bank protection on the Revilla in La Cavada.
- Spain’s Official State Gazette, notice of works in the public hydraulic domain of the Revilla stream: riverbank restoration at La Vega or Los Mirones.
- Cantabrian Hydrographic Confederation, older informative guide to the Miera: historical 8.3 km figure for the Revilla, distinct from the current 5.34 km water-body length.
