Spain's Best Beaches
Date: 10/08/2003Dear International Living Reader,
A finca (farmhouse) with almost 5,000 square feet of living space for just $60,500? Wow--that's what I call a bargain. After seeing the picture in the window, I hot-footed straight into Senor Baltas' office in Santander. Where was it...did it need much work...was there a sea view?
No sea view--not from 87 miles back beyond in the mountains. The village--Polaciones--is a two-hour drive from the coast and Santander.
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Santander is west from the Basque Country into the neighboring region of Cantabria. This is still "Green Spain," which effectively means that it also gets a fair amount of rainfall. But today is gorgeous, and the only place to be is on the beach.
Although Santander is a city and a port (around 185,000 people live here), it has some of Spain's best beaches--11 in total. I've had a look at La Magdalena (out on a wooded peninsula with a castle), El Camillo (which takes its name from rock formations that are supposed to look like a camel, though I can't quite see how), and El Primo Playa de Sardinero. All are soft golden sand beaches, though the Atlantic feels a bit bracing on first dip.
My guidebook says El Sardinero beach is where "people go to be seen," which gives a wrong impression.
You don't have to be young or beautiful to enjoy the sun and sand here. While there are plenty of girls in glitzy bikinis parading up and down the waters edge, this is a family beach just as much for toddlers and grannies. I've just watched one very large lady hobble down to the beach with a walking stick. She's undressed to reveal a swimsuit that must have last been fashionable in the Edwardian Age!
The beaches are well away from the port area--it's about 2 miles to El Sardinero from the city center. You can walk the long tree-lined esplanade--on the La Pareda section, there's a whole line of outdoor booksellers and poetry readings in the evenings.
Steenie Harvey
Roving Euro-editor, International Living
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