√ Santander (Spain): information on the city, what to visit and what to do in Santander?
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Santander
Time difference to London - Time zone GMT/UTC: 1 hour (+/- changes due summertime/daylight saving)
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain between Asturias (to the west) and the Basque Country (to the east)..
Just over a third of Cantabrians live in Santander.
Santander lives facing the sea
Santander is a city that lives facing the sea, in the wide bay of the same name.
While the environs have become industrialized, the city center is still the ideal zone to go for a walk along the sport harbours, nice beaches and colourful parks.
History
In the Roman Empire, the town was known as Portus Victoriae Iuliobrigensium. Its present name is derived from St Emeterio, a martyr whose head was brought there in the 3rd century, according to legend.
In 1187, King Alfonso VIII made the abbot of San Emeterio lord of the town, and in 1248 Santander participated in the battle for Seville, receiving a coat of arms as reward Santander was an important port for Castile in the later Middle Ages, and also for trade with the New World.
Today Santander remains a popular tourist destination. It is renowned for its mild, (though rainy) climate.
Monumental zone of Santander
The monumental zone, where most of the museums and official buildings are, begins at Paseo Pereda and it finishes oppossite the Museum and Library Menéndez Pelayo. This is the commercial zone.
The gardens of Pereda, in memory of a Cantabrian writer, and their avenue is oppossite the harbours and the sea. Shops, stores of naval effects and consignataries of ships remember the time of "indianos".
You must visit Pombo Square, surrounded by aristocratic houses - like the Real Club de Regatas -, and the Porticada Square. The most ancient monument in Santander is the cathedral. It is settled on a Roman layer and it lodges the original church of XIII C.
El Sardinero beaches
Santander has a lot of beaches, but the most emblematic ones are El Sardinero beaches (the First and the Second). It is a sandy ground of almost three kilometers that begins in the Avenue Reina Victoria, next to La Magdalena, and it finishes in front of the famous Chiqui hotel.
Along this way we go along the Camello beach, it is called in this way because tere is a rock modeled by the sea with the shape of this animal. El Sardinero became fashionable in 1847, as the ideal place to take the healthy “baños de olas” (salty baths with the sea waves).
The Italia Square is the neuralgic point of this zone, we can see some houses and buildings of “belle epoque”, emphasizing the Great Casino, inaugurated in 1916. In this zone we can find some of the best hotels in the city.
Palast und Halbinsel von La Magdalena
Die Halbinsel La Magdalena ist zweifellos das Juwel einer so spektakulären Stadt wie Santander. Ein Werk der Natur, nachgeformt und verbessert von Menschenhand.
Der Königliche Palast befindet sich auf einer Anhöhe am Ende der Promenade und ist eine Prachtbau mit Einflüssen englicher Architektur. Von seiner Aussichtsterasse aus kannst du den Blick auf die Moren-Insel, die Kliffs auf El Sardinero und die anderen Strände der Stadt genießen.
Der Palast, ein "Geschenk des Volkes an die Könige", wurde 1912 eingeweiht. Zwischen 1913 und 1930 war er Sommersitz des spanischen Königshofes. In den 40er Jahren restauriert, beherbergt er heutzutage jeden Sommer die Kurse der Internationalen Universität Menéndez Pelayo.
Andere Anziehungspunkte auf der Halbinsel sind die königlichen Pferdestallungen, der Biquinis-Strand, die Anlegestelle für die königlichen Boote und Schiffe und die Karavelle die der kantabrische Seeefahrer Vital Alsar benutzte, um nach Amerika zu gelangen.
Die ganze Halbinsel ist ein Naturpark von ca. 25 ha Ausdehnung mit Meeres-Fichten als vorherrschender Vegetation.
Restaurants y bars
Santander is a seafaring city and its cooking is based on the sea resources. The restaurants make good use of products of first quality: seafood, fish, and excellent squids, among others.
Here are establishments of all the categories, all along the most typical and turistic zones of the city. In the zone of the harbour we can find some restaurants and taverns and there are a lot of old-style restaurants and tapas bars tin the streets Mola and Hernán Cortés, among others. There are more informal restaurants and tapas bars in the street Peña Herbosa to have the typical “blancos” (white wine) and “rabas” (squids coated in breadcrumbs) on Sundays. In the zone of Vargas,we find the traditional “chiquiteo” (wine and beer), and in San Amaro zone “mejillones picantes” (spicy mussels) and “cañas” (draught beer).
