2. Some facts about us
Official name: Kingdom of Spain.
Capital city: Madrid.
Population: 47 million people.
Currency: euro.
Official Languages: Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Basque.
Government: Spain is a democracy. It is a constitutional monarchy. The
head of state is King Juan Carlos I. We have a bicameral parliament , with a
congress and a senate. The head of the government is Mariano Rajoy.
The country is divided in 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous
cities (Ceuta and Melilla). One of this regions or autonomus communities is
Cantabria.
Spain became a member of the European Union on 1st
January 1986.
4. Means of transport.
You can come to Santander by…
Plane: there are domestic and
international flights
train
Ferry from the south of England
Bus. This is the bus station.
5. Santander
Our city has about 178,000 inhabitants.
It is a city by the sea with a beautiful bay and some nice
beaches.
In 1941 a great fire destroyed most of the old part of the
city, that’s why there aren’t many old buildings in it.
7. Some interesting places and buildings in the city
Maritime museum
Cathedral
Post office
Town hall
8. Some interesting places and buildings in the city
Football stadium and sports palace
Esperanza market Porticada square
Concert hall
9. The Palace of La Magdalena is the most
emblematic building of the city . it is situated at
the highest point of the Magdalena Peninsula
and surrounded by a public park.
Built between 1908 and 1912 as a present to the
Royal family, it celebrates its 100 anniversary
this year. it was the summer residence of the
Royal family for some years. In 1977 it was sold
back to the city.
Today, the Palace is the venue for congresses
and meetings and Summer headquarters of the
prestigious Menéndez Pelayo International
University.
Palace and Peninsula of La Magdalena
10. Sardinero and City Beaches
Sardinero is the beach area of the city. In the summer it is always crowded.
This beach is called “Camel beach”. Can you guess why?
11. Cantabria
• Cantabria is one of the autonomous communities in Spain with a population of about
590,000 people.
• Fishing, agriculture, some industries and tourism play an important role in our
economy.
• Its landscapes is made up of beaches, mountains and inland valleys.
12. Weather
The weather is quite mild, neither too cold nor too hot, with average
temperatures of 12ºC in winter and 23º in Summer; except in the
mountians where it snows and temperatures are much colder. We get quite
a lot of rain, that’s why everything is green.
The map shows a typical spring or autumn day in Cantabria.
13. What can
you visit in
Cantabria?
Towns and villages.
Prehistoric caves.
Beaches.
Natural parks.
15. Towns and villages by the sea
All along the coast you can find fishing towns and villages, nowadays tourist
destinations too, such as…
Santoña, in the west, well-known for
the production of anchovies
San
Vicente
de la
Barquera
Suances
Comillas
with its
modernist
architecture
16. Towns and villages
If you want to see examples of traditional architecture (stone houses, wooden
balconies and red roofs), these are some of the places you can’t miss.
Santillana del Mar.
Bárcena Mayor
Potes, in the
Picos de
Europa
mountain area
17. Prehistoric caves.
Cantabria is the richest region in
the world in archaeological sites
from the Upper Paleolithic. One of
the most important ones is
Altamira Cave. Inhabited between
22,000 and14,000 BC, it has
incredible paintings of bisons and
deer dated between 16,000 and
9,000BC
World heritage site by UNESCO
since 1985, in 2003, 17 more
caves, 9 of them in Cantabria
were included on this list as Cave
of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave
Art of Northern Spain. The caves
are inscribed as masterpieces of
creative genius and as the
humanity’s earliest accomplished
art.
The cave is closed to visitor to protect the paintings, but you can visit its
reproduction in the nearby Altamira museum.
The other caves with painting are open to the public.
Altamira Cave
18. Caves
This cave was discovered at the
beginning of the 20th
century when the mines of La
Florida were being operated. It is
considered to be one of the
greatest wonders of geology,
and a true paradise for potholers
(eccentrics, stalactites,
stagmalites, gorges, columns,
cave pearls, etc.)
El Soplao Cave
19. Mountains, Valleys and
Natural Parks
The largest protected area in Spain, with
700 km 2
spread between 3 regions:
Cantabria, Asturias and León. The
highest mountains of the regions are
here. (Torre Blanca (2,615 m). There are
beech and oak forests, as well as
several species of animals in danger of
extinction (brown bear and grouse
mostly), and others like chamois, deer,
wild boar and wolf.
Picos de Europa
21. CANTABRIA
http://youtu.be/QPMYFyiiuUw
If you click on the link below you can watch a short video in English about our
region made by the Cantabria tourist board.
We would love to show you some of these places when you come to visit us.
You can also watch a video with images of the region and listen to a modern
folk song by a group from Cantabria called Tanea. The name of the song is
Viento del norte “North Wind”. In this video they sing with Victor Manuel,a
famous singer songwriter.
http://youtu.be/YUtg0_FvMto
