Malc
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España Verde
España Verde, as illustrated in green at the right, is between mountains and sea. It gets its name from the rainfall and resulting forests and rich growth. Temperatures are moderated by the Gulf Stream and mountain winds. In short, this isn't the Spain you thought you knew. But that's not the half of it!
Let's zoom in now to one district, the autonomous region of Cantabria.
Cantabria
Cantabria is a small, autonomous region, not very popular for some weird reason. The Brits come here by direct ferry, and then rush off to the traditional bits of Spain.
In California you can ski in the morning and surf in the afternoon, but only if you drive very fast. In Calabria you have a chance of actually doing that because it is so small. And yet there's a lush coastal plain, national parks and so on.
Here's some goodies:
- mountains. Including the Picos de Europa which are up to 2500 metres and with snow all year round, some skiing.
- rivers. Lots of them, short sharp and rushing from mountains to the sea.
- beaches. Surfing beaches. Empty beaches. Lots of bays.
- sea. We don't say "Cantabrian Sea" in English, but "Mar Cantábrico" refers to the southern part of the Bay of Biscay because it is uniquely friendly (the rest of the Bay is nasty.) Which is why the maritime industry has done so well here.
Not counting the mountains (which are cold, see!) any spikes in temperature go up, not down, meaning for five months of the year a pleasant twenties to mid-twenties with occasional really hot days. For the rest of the year, a lot of pleasant cooler days and in winter sits around ten (10!) degrees. A good bit of rain during winter, which is why the place is green -- warm but wet in winter.
Pictures!!!!!
First, open ordinary Google maps.
Now flick to 'Satellite' view. Notice the mountains and general greenness. Find the capital city, top middle, Santander.
We'll zoom in, based on Santander. First thing, this isn't a lot of people! Now take a tour...
Zoom in twice more, until you can see the harbour and beaches clearly, now pan over to the right along the coast. Look at those beaches, bays, rivers! Picking a representative one at random, there's no way there are people hiding here :-) Nor is this a fluke, a lot of people talk about the empty beaches. I think the Spanish royal family had it right for many years, when this was their summer holiday playground.
Now look at this, a short distance from Santanda, with it's international airport, from the beach, from mountains, surrounded by forest, suitable for farming which tells us its suitable for more interesting uses too.
In two hours 20m by car you can get to the French border, with substantial French cities just beyond. Bordeaux is another two hours. That two hours was calculated from the capital, but there are plenty of places in Cantabria that are closer!
Bilbao, just an hour from Santander to the East, is the Basque capital and one of the richest business centres in Spain. So transport links are excellent.
More Pictures!!!!
Just
at all of
pictures which
tell the story!
More Stuff
Cantabria has a lot of medieval architecture and history preserved. People like it that way.
Cantabria has astonishing paelontology, including famous cave paintings, but a lot more. Fascinating.
Santander is a hub for trains (great) with no express trains (way better.) According to train enthusiasts who write about it Cantabria has a modern train system except it is still very quaintly run for cost and efficiency reasons. Result: the best of both worlds. No big glistening stations but still a functional system for getting about.