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The north of Spain is an authentic paradise in which the sea and the mountains converge, creating some of the most spectacular landscapes in the Spanish geography. Cantabria is, without a doubt, the maximum exponent of this beauty, and with its 200 kilometres of coastline, the high and green mountains that surround it, it is a unique place to explore nature tourism.
In just over 5,000 km2 Cantabria displays a formidable range of landscapes and environments:
- Coasts, cliffs and beaches bathed by a wild sea in winter and warm in summer.
Beautiful coves where the contrast between the green and brown of the Cantabrian mountains and the blue of the sea is spectacular.
- Valleys, always green, full of surprises, and the mountain passes that communicate them. Those of the south entering already in the mesetaria Spain.
- The mountain range, culminating in the towers of Picos de Europa as mountains emerged from the next ocean that delimit the Green Spain.
Suances, a little more than 30 kilometres from Santander, was until a few years ago a small fishing village. Its microclimate allows you to enjoy a temperate and even sunny temperature, when just six kilometers away the clouds lurk for rain. This gift from the gods means that during the summer a large number of visitors come to its three beaches and also welcome the neighbours of the nearby towns, making it one of the most attractive and growing destinations on the Cantabrian coast.
Suances was part of the region of the old Marina valley. Its strategic location and the Roman traces found next to the church reinforce its identification so that historians can identify it as the Roman Portus Blendium. It was the most important route of penetration of the Cantabrian coast, famous for its armada, and with a great commercial movement.
Proof of this are the coastal defences of the Torco, from the 17th century, located next to the lighthouse of Suances and today rehabilitated as an exhibition hall and headquarters of the Summer University of the Environment. The oldest buildings date back to the 17th century, such as the church of Nuestra Señora de las Lindes, located in the upper part of the village and, in Tagle, the church of San Pedro and the hermitage of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.
The beaches start at the firing range, near the dock. The riberuca and the ribera belong to the estuary of Suances, known as the estuary of San Martín de la Arena. This is where the rivers Saja and Besaya flow into the sea, forming a natural port between the cliffs of Punta del Dichoso and Pico de la Barra. In this port the boats dock with the fresh fish, which will be sold at auction in the early afternoon.
La Concha beach discovers a large sandy beach that is as crowded during the day as at night, when a multitude of teenagers come to it for drinks. On top, Los Locos beach appears between cliffs and is a surfer's paradise during rough surf days. It has two access roads: if dexterity is not your thing, do not use the one at the foot of the castle, and go down the traditional descent, perfectly conditioned. At the end of the road is the lighthouse, which is still active. From there you can see the fishermen at the Punta del Dichoso ledges, and numerous coves hit by transparent waters emerge along the way.
As soon as we leave Los Locos we find the detour that goes towards Tagle. Its beach, the Sable, decongests, on the sunniest days, those of Suances. It is perfectly signposted and easily accessible: a dusty track, bordered by meadows with cattle and seasonal crops, leads to the sand itself.
Before arriving at Ubiarco we must stop at another of the most attractive beaches in this area, that of Santa Justa. It is a secluded beach with a curious hermitage drilled in the same rock.
In the cove of Ubiarco there is a geological landmark, an anticline. The marine erosion emptied its interior of mud and sediments and the peculiar cavity ended up giving shelter to a semi-rupestrian hermitage at the edge of the sea.
It is said that it was already a place of pilgrimage in Roman times. It contains the relics of saints Justa and Rufina. The interior can be visited every 19th July, the day on which a pilgrimage is held. The current building must have been erected in the 16th century. It is at this moment when numerous civil and religious documentary references appear, either because of its position in an inlet, or because of the celebration of pilgrimages. The work has no decoration whatsoever, being limited to two masonry walls attached to the anticline and a roof attached to a water. It seems that before the 16th century the cavity was already used by hermits.
It is one of the emblematic coastal prints of Cantabria, history and nature concentrating in a special place.
