Hello,
With the beginning of the year 2025 I always like to take stock of the year that has ended since the Christmas holidays and during those moments of introspection there is always a moment to remember the place that I most enjoyed visiting or that surprised me the most and on this occasion it was the city of Santander.
I have been to Santander on many occasions, but always in a hurry and without time to enjoy this city that overlooks the Cantabrian Sea from its spectacular Sardinero beach.
Although my visit to the city was in late autumn, the temperature was very pleasant, there was no rain and being able to walk along the promenade and the viewpoints on this beach was a real delight.
During my first afternoon in the city, during my stroll along the promenade, my mind travelled to what this beach could be like in summer, full of people and sunshine, when I saw a multitude of games designed for the youngest members of the family.
The sculptures that surround the beach are also beautiful and some of them are iconic for me, as on my visits to the city I usually sleep in a hotel near this statue so that I can stick the sun with Don Quixote's lance.
I love the beaches in the north of Spain, such as the C-shaped beach of Santander, which is shaped like a C, due to the lively tides that the Cantabrian Sea offers us compared to the other great sea that bathes the coasts of Spain, the Mediterranean, which provides straighter beaches.
At the same time, the greater bravery of the Cantabrian Sea offers opportunities for water sports such as surfing.
Or fishing for those for whom surfing is too risky.
I am currently into even more leisurely activities such as building a sand castle, although to do it as well as the sand sculptors for me is unattainable.
But Santander is not only about the Sardinero beach, but when you go into the city you can discover a monumental city with very well preserved historical buildings.
Art can be found in any park, as is the case in the park in front of the city's artistic landmark, the Botin Centre.
The building on the shores of the bay of Santander invites us to enter and discover its interior.
But you have to make sure you go at a time when it is open and if you happen to be in the city like me on a Monday, you will only be able to photograph it from the outside because it is closed on Mondays.
But if you are lucky like me, not far from there is the La Caixa Foundation, which has a very interesting photographic art gallery with photography on display.
The interesting thing was to see during the tour how the photographs of the same colour incorporated a new colour that became the protagonist of the next 3 photographs until the next colour came in.
And if photography is not your cup of tea, a visit to the cathedral is another option.
But I recommend you to discover the grandeur of the Magdalena peninsula.
A peninsula located between the Sardinero beach and the bay of Santander.
It is a very charming place with its great palace that was once a royal residence.
With a space dedicated to the conservation of marine species such as sea lions and seals very well structured and taking advantage of the proximity of the sea to provide sea water to the animals in a natural way.
It is a perfect viewpoint over the city.
And where we can discover three small galleons that crossed the Atlantic in 1977, emulating the three ships that crossed the Atlantic in the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.
In front of them we can see a mermaid with a conch shell like a trumpet.
But the most spectacular thing for me was to see a raft built with large logs that was used in an expedition to cross the Pacific by Vital Alsar Ramírez.
It was quite a prodigy to cross an ocean like the Pacific with such a vessel.
But if you get lost in the Magdalena peninsula, don't worry. Because it will be a pleasure to go through its forests and find on some of the trees that have already died, wooden sculptures that I am sure you will like.
Best regards, friends.
