Already the Romans new the advantages of the huge bay protected by a long stretched peninsula with wild cliffs and beautiful sand beaches. They called their harbour city Portus Victoriae Iuliobrigensium, which became after Christianisation a place for the relics of the martyr Saint Emeterius, and its name turned into Santander.
The city completely lost its historic centre in a great fire in 1941 which destroyed, due to a strong southern wind, even the cathedral, and lasted for two days. Being rebuilt in the years after the second world war the urban concept was designed to be car friendly and the town was cut off from its harbour front by a huge four lane road.
Finally in 2017 the Centro Botin by architect Renzo Piano was opened at the harbour front with a cultural centre and a direct connection to the park, under which the road is now led through a tunnel. This gained so much quality for the citizens of Santander that their favoured place by the quays of the harbour is easily reached again without crossing the intense traffic. On top of that Santander runs a pilot for the “Smart City”.
It was inspiring to see the possibilities of future urban planning and we enjoyed strolling along the bayside and having a look at the art collection of the Centro Botin.
We tried to get a place inside the art café because outside it was quite windy, but they were fully booked. So we continued to walk on and have a look at the Cathedral, where a freshly wed couple left in a red Ford Mustang and was celebrated by chic Spanish upper class people. Unfortunately the Cathedral was closed and we walked on to have a look at the market hall which was just going to be closed too. For trying to find something to eat the timing was bad, and we ended up in a bar which was more like a night club, getting some fish and chips.
We passed the Arab restaurant “La Manò de Fàtima” and made a reservation for dinner making sure we would have something good to eat. It was located in one of the roads where an escalator system assisted pedestrians as the slope was quite long and steep. It shovelled us right into bed for a good last night’s sleep.
