The destination
Why Santander and Cantabria?
Santander, you are the bride of the sea. This is how a famous bolero immortalizes it, and how any visitor realizes it as soon as they set foot in the city. The capital of Cantabria cannot be understood without the sea, without its precious and admired bay, and without its renowned and cherished fine sandy beaches.
But it also could not be understood without the warmth of its people, with their distinctive sing-song speech, and the patient encounter between that sea and the mountains that rise in the distance, creating a landscape of unique beauty that stretches across a region with more than 250 km of coastline and numerous natural treasures, including Costa Quebrada, a vast, breathtaking, and attractive coastal area recognized as a UNESCO Global Geopark, which allows visitors to witness geology in action and discover, in a simple and direct way, the origin and evolution of our land.
Culture at the Center
Santander is culture. This has been attested since before the mid-20th century by the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) and the International Festival of Santander (FIS), and today it is confirmed by the Botín Center and the diversity of museums and cultural spaces spread throughout the city.
Considered the eighth cultural city of Spain, Santander aims to improve this important position through new projects already underway, marked by quality and innovation: Faro Santander, the new leisure and cultural initiative projected by Banco Santander in its former emblematic main headquarters on Paseo Pereda; the Museum of Archaeology and Prehistory of Cantabria (MUPAC); or the center associated with the Reina Sofía Museum–Archivo Lafuente.
In Cantabria, culture has many more faces: the highest density of caves with prehistoric art in the world, with 10 caves declared a World Heritage Site, Pilgrimage Routes declared a World Heritage by UNESCO, popular festivals, monasteries, and villages...
Fine Dining
In Santander and Cantabria, the food is excellent. Experts and gastronomes agree, and it is confirmed by a cuisine rightfully celebrated for being closely tied to local products, heritage, and knowledge.
A gastronomy with its own identity and recognized quality, including five Michelin-starred restaurants and twelve Repsol Sun restaurants. But you can also find modest eateries, taverns, bars, and restaurants that know exactly what they are cooking.
Let’s not forget that here we cure anchovies and distill orujo; make cheeses, sobaos, and quesadas; sweeten our lives with puff pastries, corbatas, or pantortillas; and enjoy stews in winter, fresh tuna in summer, and fried squid all year round.
Orgullosos de nuestras tradiciones
No hace falta tener ocho apellidos cántabros para sentirse orgulloso de ser de aquí, de la tierruca.
Somos de remar en trainera, de abrir velas en la mar y de cabalgar con la tabla sobre las olas; de jugar a los bolos en la bolera, a las palas en la playa o al golf en bellos campos a pie del mar o de las montañas; de cantar montañesas y marineras allá donde podemos y nos dejan; de pito, tambor y pandereta.
Somos de Caminos de Peregrinación declarados Patrimonio Mundial por la UNESCO y de Fiestas de Interés Turístico Nacional como La Vijanera en Silió. Somos de vestir traje montañés o campurriano y de andar en albarcas por los praos; y de pisar la arena de día y contemplar las estrellas por la noche.
A Natural and Wonderful Environment
Without crowds, Santander is the gateway to the great spectacle of Nature that Cantabria offers.
A green and lightly frequented destination, ideal for discovering unique and remarkable spaces and resources such as the Cabárceno Nature Park, a former open-pit mine very close to Santander where hundreds of animal species live in semi-freedom; El Soplao, one of the great geological wonders accessible to all types of visitors; or the majesty of the Picos de Europa, where the Fuente Dé Cable Car takes visitors to more than 1,800 meters above sea level to enjoy a landscape of immense beauty.
A Medium-Sized, Comfortable, Modern, and Sustainable Destination
In Santander and Cantabria, everything is within reach. A medium-sized destination, close, comfortable, and accessible; modern, cosmopolitan, and sustainable; technological and safe; and on the edge of the sea and mountains.
A city and a region that are also committed to sustainable development goals and convinced that congress activities represent an excellent opportunity to generate local wealth and connect with the world.
A creative and innovative environment equipped with a wide range of infrastructures and unique venues, as well as an extensive network of professional organizations specialized in the MICE sector, making Santander and Cantabria the perfect place to hold meetings, conferences, and other corporate events.
