Santillana

We visited Santillana Del Mar, near Torrelavega, which is famous partly because Jean Paul Sartre called it "the most beautiful village in Spain" (in Nausea). The village is 4 km from the sea and its neither holy nor flat - Santillana no es santa, no es llana, y no hay mar!

We parked in the main car park; free out of season and almost empty apart from a few coaches and an old and very persistent beggar lady. You need to go to Santillana early in the day to avoid the crowds. We spent a happy couple of hours meandering through the old streets and squares and taking photographs - although it was late morning by this time and the light was somewhat harsh. This is a lovely village to look at but completely geared up to tourism, with prices to reflect this. Leather bags were €42 here; identical ones in Potes were €23. We had read that every single building in the village is involved in tourism in some way or other, and this certainly looked possible. A pretty village but maybe too pretty and perfect. Still, pleasant for a morning's visit with a camera.
 

Towards midday it became more crowded and as we walked back up towards the car park we encountered a stream of school parties and guided tour parties going in the opposite direction towards the village centre and the Church, each following close on the heels of the last. We had a cold drink in the very friendly Casa German next to the car park (they also sell snacks, cakes and rolls) and visited a small supermarket nearby to stock up on water.

The caves at Altamira

We returned to the car and made the short drive across to the caves at Altamira. The real caves are not open to the public. Admission is granted to serious researchers only, and there is a 4 year waiting list. However, 2001 saw the completion of a replica of the caves, a museum and a visitor centre and these are worth a visit. Park in the free car park (not particularly large when you think how busy the place must be in the summer) and buy your ticket in the ticket office near the entrance to the car park. Entry is just €2.40 for adults. You then go up to the museum complex itself. Your ticket will have a time on it and you must make sure that you are at the internal entrance (inside the Visitor Centre) to the museum proper 5 minutes before the time shown. You will have to show your separate admission ticket as well as your timed ticket, so make sure you know where that is! We were lucky and only had a 15 minute wait - but apparently the wait can be much longer in the summer.

There are guided tours only of the replica caves. There were several school parties there but they had their own tours with educational workshops. Our guided tour was in Spanish, although the guide also used some English when he described some important features of the caves. We got by and understood the gist of the tour. There are display boards in English and there is an English guidebook (€4.50). The laser-scanned replica caves with their faithfully-reproduced imagery are impressive, although they lack some of the atmosphere and sense of mystery you get from seeing the real thing. Still, the authorities were correct to close the real caves to try and preserve the paintings and they have done a great job with the replica. Photography is not allowed in the cave, but no-one objected to cameras being carried. There are no steep climbs or ascents, it doesn't get completely dark and it isn't as cold as a real cave, so the replica caves are suitable for all.

After you have visited the replica caves you can browse the museum. There is a shop on the site selling good quality souvenirs. There is also a café. This was empty when we visited but our coffee and boccadillos (egg-mayonnaise and tuna with egg) were good value. Like everywhere we visited in Spain we found drinks and snacks to be very reasonably priced.

Outside the museum complex there are directions to the real caves and our guide suggested we looked at the real cave from the outside. However, the route was barred by a metal gate and access was impossible (though there were no notices saying it was closed).