Spain

Famous for the sun, sea, beaches and tapas. But surely as popular for it's culture, history and beautiful countryside...

An unique destination, due to its rich history and cultural heritage, diverse landscape and varied gastronomy. Here you will find green, hilly country side with pastures and small fishing harbours to the mountains with permanent snow, like the Sierra Nevada or the Pyrenees. From the steep rocky coast to the busy beaches of the Costa's, from the worldly towns to the small middle ages villages inland.

The diversity and the contrasts which characterize Spain can also been seen in the culture. The country is strewn with interesting cultural sights, each with it's own influences: Celtic, Iberian, Greek-Roman, Moors.

The Spanish people enjoy a lively culture, with it's many folk festivals and in the music and dance (think of the 'Flamenco' in Andalusia or the somewhat gentler Sardana in Cataluña), each region with it's own festivals and customs. On top of which Spain has excellent cuisine: olives & olive oil, tapas, fish and shell fish paella, wine, sherry and above all a many sided local gastronomy.

Cantabria

Cantabria is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community (province of Biscay), on the south by Castile and León (provinces of León, Palencia and Burgos), on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.

Cantabria belongs to the Green Spain, the name given to the strip of land between the Cantabrian Sea and the Cantabrian Mountains in northern Spain. It is called green because it has particularly lush vegetation, due to a wet and moderate oceanic climate. Its climate is strongly influenced by Atlantic Ocean winds that get trapped by the mountains; the average precipitation is about 1,200 mm (~47.244 inches).

Cantabria is the richest region in the world in archaeological sites from the Upper Paleolithic period. The first signs of human occupation date from Lower Paleolithic, although this period is not so well represented in the region. The most significant cave painting site is the cave of Altamira, dated from about 16,000 to 9,000 BC and declared, with nine other Cantabrian caves, World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

The modern Province of Cantabria was constituted on 28 July 1778. The Organic Law of the Autonomy Statute of Cantabria was approved on 30 December 1981, acquiring in that way fields, bodies and institutions of self government.

Cantabria is a mountainous and coastal region, with important natural resources. It has two distinct areas which are well differentiated morphologically:

The Coast has a long strip of low, wide and gently rolling valleys some 10 kilometers in width, whose altitude does not rise above 500 meters, and which meets the ocean in a line of abrupt cliffs broken by river estuaries, creating rias and beaches. Santander Bay is the most prominent indentation in the coastline. To the south, the coastal strip rises to meet the mountains

The Mountains are a long barrier made up of abruptly rising mountains parallel to the sea, which are part of the Cantabrian Mountains. The mountains are mostly made of limestone with karst topography, and occupy most of Cantabria's area. They form deep valleys oriented north-south. The torrential rivers are short, fast flowing and of great eroding power, so the slopes are steep. The valleys define different natural regions, delimited physically by the intervening mountain ranges: Liébana, Saja-Nansa, Besaya, Pas-Pisueña, Miera, Asón-Gándara, Campoo. To the 'mountain' region belongs the Escudo Range, a mountain range of 600 to 1,000 metres high that covers 15 or 20 km in a parallel line to the coast in the West part of Cantabria.