My Favorite Things in Cantabria

Cantabria is a small autonomous community, as well as its own province, in northern Spain.  It's border to the north is the rugged coastline along the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay) while it's bordered to the south by Burgos, east by Basque Country, and west by Asturias.  It is a little known, but beautiful region of Spain that falls within the strip of land known as 'Green Spain;' a wonderfully lush and green region trapped between the mountains and ocean.

Besides being beautiful, Cantabria has a long and rich history dating far back into the Stone Age.  There is so much spirit here; the people are very proud of their region, heritage, and culture.  I've been lucky enough that the past two summers I have been able to call Cantabria my home and have had the opportunity to explore it with native Cantabrians as my guides.  It's truly a beautiful region and has become my home away from home, and quite possibly my favorite part in Spain.  With Auxiliares placements starting I thought I would share some of my favorite things in Cantabria:

Santander 

Palacio de la Magdalena

Santander is the capital of Cantabria and has a population of around 180,000 citizens.  It's a harbor town right on the coast of the Cantabrian Sea.  Santander is also very bike friendly with Tusbic.  Around different areas of the city you'll see a row of bikes for rent, it's very cheap and you can return the bike at any of the bike stations around the city.  Santander has a beautiful coastline and is known for its many beaches: Mataleñas, El Sardinero (Primera and Segunda), Peligros, Bikinis, Magdalena, and Camello.  The Sardinero beaches are the most popular, and central, of all the beaches in Santander with Second beach being the largest.  They are named First (for royal use) and Second (citizen use) from when the royal family vacationed at the Palacio de Magdalena nearby.

On the peninsula of Magdalena there is a small zoo, home to penguins, sea lions, and seals.  It's free to visit and there are also plenty of places in the park to walk around or picnic.  If you walk around the paths of the peninsula you will come to the palace at the top of the hill.  It was once the royal summer home and as I mentioned before, the outdoor location for the TV series Gran Hotel.  During the summer it hosts classes with the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP), but in the winter months it is often open for visitors.

Iglesia del Santísimo Cristo, source

While Santander's main cathedral may not seem like much to look, the small lower 12th century church (Iglesia del Santísimo Cristo), has become one of my favorite churches.  I love how low the ceiling is, how it's lit by just dim lights, and how it sounds when there is a service and the music reverberates off the stone; I adore it.  It also is important to the history of Santander as this church houses the relics of Santander's patron saints, San Emeterio and San Celedonio, and a portion of the floor is comprised of glass panels showing excavated Roman remains.

Cuevas 

View from Monte Castillo

Cantabria is also a region famous for it's many caves and cave paintings; the most famous of these caves being Altamira.  It is located only about 20 minutes west of Santander and while it has been closed to the public since the early 2000s to protect the fragile cave paintings, there is a replica museum you can visit (that in my opinion as a history major, shows painstaking efforts to recreate it).  While Altamira is the most famous of the Cantabrian caves, there are still plenty of caves in Cantabria where you can actually go inside to see the cave paintings first hand.


In the village of Puente Viesgo are the caves of Monte Castillo.  This past summer, my boyfriend took me to visit two of the caves in this complex, Las Monedas and El Castillo.  Las Monedas was discovered in 1952 and is named for coins that were found within dating to the era of the Catholic Monarchs (Isabel and Ferdinand).  While it does have some cave paintings, it is more famous for its rock formations.  El Castillo is the main, and largest, cave of the Monte Castillo complex.  As you enter it, you are met by a dig site that shows all the levels of excavation of El Castillo over the years.  It has many cave paintings, the oldest dating back to the early stone age; long before the first paintings of Altamira.


El Soplao is another famous cave in the Cantabria region located near San Vicente de la Baquera.  This cave has no cave paintings, but is known for its amazing rock formations.  It was accidentally discovered in the early 20th century while drilling for mining and after years of mining use it was abandoned for decades.  To enter the cave you take a typical mine train that brings you inside like the original miners would have.  El Soplao is most well known for its helictites, stalactites that seem to defy gravity by turning upwards instead of growing down as well as its rock 'curtains'.  Soplao also has the basic tourist visit or you can take the 'adventure' tourist visit, where visitors are suited up and get to explore the different tunnels of the cave.

Pueblas 

Santillana del Mar

Another thing I love about Cantabria are all the tiny pueblas, or villages, spread throughout the countryside.  While pueblas are obviously not just a Cantabrian thing, I still list them because I find these small villages so quaint and unlike anything back at home.  One of my favorites is Santillana Del Mar.  It's a historic little town right near Altamira known as the 'Town of Three Lies,' because it's not a saint (santo), flat (llana), or near the sea (mar).  I love it's tiny cobble-stone streets and traditional Spanish homes.  It has a beautiful church and many small museums throughout the village.  I went in early June, and it was beautiful time to visit; not too crowded and not rainy.

San Vicente de la Baquera

Another puebla that I really liked was San Vicente de la Baquera.  This small village is right on the coast, near the border to Asturias and has always had a very important connection to the sea.  More recently it has had an increase in tourism due to its natural beauty, as seen in Oyambre Natural Park that covers a lot of the area around this puebla.  It is also very close to El Soplao, so together they make a nice day trip.  I personally think San Vicente is beautiful; I love the rugged green coastline of Cantabria.  The best time to visit is in the summer, as San Vicente is also known for its beaches.

Comillas

Comillas is another great coastal puebla to visit.  Originally Comillas was a fiefdom for the Marquis of Comillas, a post that is still officially in place.  While known for its coastline, beaches, and seafood (like much of Cantabria) Comillas is also home to the original building for the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, now based in Madrid, and the Palacio Sobrellano, that was built for the first Marquis.  Both buildings are special, outside of the importance of their original purpose, because they are some of the few buildings designed by Catalan architects, outside of Catalonia.  Comillas is known for these Catalan designed buildings, and is also home to one of the few Gaudí buildings outside of Catalonia, the Capricho de Gaudí.

Picos de Europa

Literally just hanging out on the observation deck

Picos de Europa ("Peaks of Europe") is a range of mountains in Asturias, Castilla-Leon, and Cantabria.  To come up into the mountains we took the cable car from Fuente Dé, it brings you right to observation decks and the start of many hiking trails for different levels of hikers.  We didn't hike for very long, only an hour or two, but you could see that the trails were fit for hikers of all levels.

The mountains are beautiful and as a protected national park are home to various types of plant and animal life.  Walking around you could also see different groups of livestock grazing.  Traditionally, villagers would come up to live in the mountains during the warmer seasons to feed their livestock and to make the well-known cheese of the area.  A few still live like this today, bringing up livestock and making the famous Liébana cheese, but with the cable car and other technologies they do not need to live up there isolated for long periods.

One of the main paths from the Fuente Dé entrance

Cooling off in the river!

Potes is a small, adorable village located in the valleys near Picos de Europam in the region of Liébana.  Like most of the area of Cantabria, Potes has history dating back to the Romans, and this area is known for its cocido (stew), cheese, and orujo (a type of pomace brandy, though I prefer the crema de orujo). Potes is also the point where the two rivers of the region meet, which was a nice break for us to cool down because the day we visited it was over 100° F; we were dying!  

Nearby Potes is the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana.  This monastery is famous because it claims to have in its possession one of the pieces of the True Cross, and the largest at that.  Because of this relic, it is one of five churches in the world where pilgrims can get the Jubilee.  I'm not Catholic but it was very interesting to visit the monastery and see such a renowned relic for myself.

Hotel del Oso, in Cosgaya near Potes

Ancient History 

Standing inside what once was a Roman house.

In the south of Cantabria (near Reinosa) lies the remains of Julióbriga, one of the most important cities during ancient Roman control of Cantabria.  It was founded around 29-19 B.C. and was named after the family name of Augustus (Julia, from his adopted uncle Julius Caesar), the reigning emperor.  It was abandoned in the 3rd century, and was not later identified as being Julióbriga until the 18th century.  Little remains of this city except for foundations of the structures that once dominated the city's hill.  Along with the museum, you can see the ruins for the poorer ('humble') houses, the wealthier houses, the city's temple, and the city's forum.    It's by far one of my favorite places I've visited in Cantabria; there's nothing to get a history major going like walking through some Roman ruins!

View of the forum's remains.

Closer to Santander, is the town of los Corrales de Buelna.  At the end of summer, they have a reenactment for the famous battles that took place in this area between the Romans and the Celtic tribe of the area, the Cantabris.  This reenactment is a weekend-long festival called La Fiesta de las Guerras Cántabras (Cantabrian War Celebration).  One of our friends partakes in it and I was lucky enough to get to visit before I had to return home last summer.  Almost 2,000 people participate and they are divided into the Romans and the Cantabris (our friend is on the Roman side, I think it's fitting since he really is half-Italian!)  They recreate both Roman and Cantabrian structures, dress in their sides outfits, and even have a reenactment battle!   I thought the outfits and structures were amazing, and all the people involved are so proud of taking part in this event that commemorates their heritage.  I've never been to anything like it, and hope I can visit again in the future to see the actual battle.

Replica ancient Cantabrian hut.

Iglesias Rupestres

Arroyuelos

In southern Cantabria, near Reinosa and Julióbriga, in the region of Valderredible are multiple Iglesias Rupestres (rock churches).  These churches date back to the early middle ages, and are literally churches that were carved out of the surrounding stone.  While most of these churches no longer hold services, you can still visit them.  We researched the path of where these churches were located and spent the afternoon driving from one to the other.  All together we visited three that day, and the most impressive was Arroyuelos.  Unlike the other Iglesias Rupestres that we visited that were closed, we were actually able to go inside Arroyuelos!

Inside Arroyuelos

When we visited, there was a little old man sitting outside his house on the steep road up to the church.  As we pulled over to ask which path of the road we should take he actually explained that he takes care of the key and would let us use it to go inside.   He only  asked that we give him whatever money we deemed acceptable (we only had 5€, but gladly gave it to him for this experience).  It was quite large inside, with very high ceilings.  The church even had a second floor that you could reach by some well-worn stairs off to the left side.  Never have I had the opportunity to personally hold in my hands the key to a church, let alone one as unique as a church carved into the surrounding rocks!  Visiting the Iglesias Rupestres was quite an adventure!  There were many more in the area that we did not see, and some that even were across the border in Burgos.  If you take a day trip to the south of Cantabria I definitely recommend visiting some of these unique rock churches.

One of the smaller churches: Caldalso

Summer Festivals

Like a lot of northern Spain, summer is the time for parties, and Cantabria is no exception.  While there are parties throughout Cantabria, most of my experience is with the ones that take place around Santander.  The first Sunday in June is Cantabrian Children's Day; celebrated on the peninsula of la Magdalena.  It celebrates the culture of Cantabria and there is traditional music, traditional dress, traditional food, and traditional goods.  I went my first summer and was blown away by how intricate these traditional outfits are, and how each style can tell you what region of Cantabria these people originally came from.  On the 23th of June they celebrate the festival for the eve of San Juan.  This festival is celebrated by lighting bonfires on the beach, traditionally for people to jump over (though now most choose to drink around the fires instead).

Around the middle of the July is Baños de Ola.  It celebrates the history of seaside recreation in Santander starting from the 1800s, and made even more popular when the royal family made Santander their summer home.  This festival includes movies, music, vendors, and activities from this time period and some of the people participating even dress in swimsuits and outfits from the 1800s!  The last two weeks of July are probably the biggest party of Santander though, it is their Semana Grande.  These two weeks are marked by casetas throughout the city (tiny buildings from different bars/restaurants serving delicious tapas and drinks), a fun fair, tents from different regions in Spain, fireworks, and bullfights.  Everyone goes out to celebrate and share their love for their city.  Another festival specific to Santander is the day of the Santos Mártires, the celebration of the two patron saints of Santander in August.  It celebrate the 'founding' of the city by these two saints. 

Also in August is the Medieval fair that takes places along the Paseo de Pereda and the Festival Intercultural near the soccer stadium.  In the Medieval Festival, vendors from throughout Spain are dressed in Medieval style clothes and selling their food and goods.  The Festival Intercultural celebrates the food, goods, music, and dance from different cultures around the world; we had crepes from France, beer from Germany, shark from South America, and kangaroo burgers from Australia.  Both festivals were quite something to see, and there was so much to look at and buy; I particularly liked the intercultural festival but I'm always partial to new food.   Not to mention the multiple music festivals that take place in the city throughout the summer, like Amstel.  With all these festivals and parties going on, it's hard not to love Cantabria in the summertime!


If you want to know more about my favorite region of Spain, visit the official tourism website of Cantabria.

Have you visited Cantabria before?  What was your favorite part?