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Hello Rose,
I can suggest, that you need to think more about Cabtabria as a whole, and not just in terms of Santander, as it, (even though the capital city of the region) is limited in what it has to offer, the bay area is great, up to a point, for a short time, then there is over the other side of Santander the beaches of El Sardinero, again, lovely, but only for so long, and then you're left thinking, is that all there is in Santander? and that's the big mistake that many visitors make when they visit Santander, it simply is not the true representation of What Cantabria is all about, you simply must do some research on Cantabria, all of it, not just the wonderful beach resorts like the ones I have been in last week, like for example, "Comillas" and the even more breathtaking Suances, (pronounced like this; Su...aaaaaan...thez) don't say it any other way, or they'll hate you for it, and Comillas is like Com...eeeel...yaz, but back to the point I'm trying to make here, there are so many amazing places all around the region, coastal towns, like Ajo, Laredo, San Vicente de La Barquera, and Awesome coastal town, and semi coastal towns like Astillero, Santonia, Castro Urdiales, ect, and some really old & medieval towns like Santillana del Mar, and Lierganes, both amazingly preserved, like frozen in time from centuries ago, and many other equally nice towns, with plenty to see and do, Torrelavega in another big Cantabrian town, and not a bad place.
You must think more about looking inland, as well as along the coast, if you really want to get the full flavor of Spanish ways of life, cultures, fiestas, you just missed a wonderful full-on Medieval market in the old market town of Comillas, just as an example, with Gaiteros playing (Celtiberian pipers, playing the Gaiter, an old form of Bagpipe) and all kinds of stuff going on all over the region.
By the way, if you're looking for tropical or sub-tropical coastal places to chill out in/on, I can recommend making your way along the Catalan coastline, and staying in places like for example, "Roses" "Figueres" "LLoret de mar" "Calella - playa Frugell", "Ampuro Brava" "Cadaques" "Port de La Selva" and Pals, all very Catalan, but, also quite Spanish, in the normal sense of the word, et cetera.
But, once again, you must research these places before setting off, there's nothing worse than people turning up in Spain unprepared, and then being disappointed because of not knowing where to go and what to see.
It annoys me to hear about the number of people who have been to places like Barcelona, but never get to hear about or got & see the Mighty Montserrat, a truly beautiful place, providing a fantastic days outing, and while in Zaragoza, nobody gets to, or bothers to, go and visit the old stone monastery and natural park, just a few kilometros outside of a nice little town called Calatayud, in the region of Aragon, I've been there, and the natural park is a spectacular place, full of Cascadas = waterfalls, and ponds packed full of Trout, the old monastery was almost entirely destroyed, but still has some interesting features to see, and for history buffs, it's essential material to get in touch with, also, from Santander, you can get a guided day trip to visit the Picos de Europa, in a place called "El Soplao" which is an old mineral/salt mine, but with a big, big difference, much more than the description might suggest, it is packed full of stalactites, and stalagmites, and a variety of other crystals etc, and is a brilliant days outing, we loved every second of it, it's worth every euro of the 35 that we paid, the photos that I have got of that day, are spectacular, even through the window of the Bus, high above the peaks of mountains & clouds, which were clearly below the level at which we were while driving along, way up there in the Picos de Europa, this really is something that should not be missed by anyone who is visiting or lives in Spain, that and the trip up to Montserrat, and the day trip to the natural park near Calatayud, I couldn't recommend strongly enough, the coastal places are great for sure, but don't miss out on the other places.
Well, that's all for now, hope that helps.
Angelo
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