Prioro resident Óscar Montero got one of the surprises of his life on Saturday when he spotted a bear cub climbing up the snow-covered steps to his house.
"At first I wasn't sure what type of animal it was, I thought it was a big dog, but then I realised it was a bear cub, calmly walking up the steps to my house", the 26 year old told EFE journalists.
"My first impulse was to go outside and touch him, but I didn't because I was warned that the mother could be close by and dangerous", said Montero, who explained that he saw the animal just after two in the afternoon.
The young man had time to take a photograph of the bear cub, showing the animal practically up to its neck in snow, and to call a friend in the village to tell him what he was looking at on his doorstep.
"When I opened the door to video the cub with my 'phone, it quickly disappeared behind the house", said Óscar Montero, who believes the animal could have become disorientated because of the heavy snowfall or had maybe come to the village in search of food.
"Whatever the case, the appearance of the bear cub brightened up my day, especially since we have been cut off by the snow and without power for two and a half days now ", he added.
Montero, who has been living in the village of Prioro in León for two years now, said the recent snowfall is the heaviest he has seen and that many of the locals were saying they hadn't seen as much snow as this in the village for 20 years.
Prioro, which lies around 60 km from the provincial capital, has barely 400 residents and the highest point of the village sits at an altitude of 1720 metres.
The appearance of the bear cub in the village has prompted memories of another "large bear" that tried to get into a remote property "many years ago" giving the owner "quite a fright".
Óscar Montero says he has been "overwhelmed" by the "success" his photo has had on the social networks and says it has received hundreds of comments.
"Today it has been the media calling me for interviews and for permission to use the photo, which I am delighted to give", he concluded.
