Santillana del Mar and the Altamira Cave

Santillana del Mar is a lovely little stone village near the northern coast, in the province of Cantabria, one hour east of Picos de Europa and 1½ hours west of Bilbao.

According to Jean-Paul Sartre, this village, consisting of three cobbled streets, a few squares, honey-colored mansions, and a stunning Romanesque Church, is “the prettiest village in Spain.”

Just 2.5 km south of the village is the Altamira Cave, whose 14,000 year old prehistoric cave paintings are world famous and considered to be one of the best examples of prehistoric art in the world.

This incredible cave whose walls and ceilings are filled with paintings of bison, horses, deer, and other animals was first discovered in 1879 by the young daughter of a local archaeologist. It became a very popular tourist destination, so much so that in 2002, the cave was closed to the public in order to prevent deterioration of the art.

Now a museum and replica cave sit near the original site, allowing visitors to experience and appreciate these amazing examples of prehistoric art.

Rainy days can be good sometimes, because they force you to do something different. If today had been sunny we would be on the Ruta del Cares trail right now — which, don’t get me wrong, would have been great, and is hopefully something we would do tomorrow. Instead, we were heading to the tiny little village of Santillana del Mar.

During our time in Spain so far, we had been to cities of all shapes and sizes - from Barcelona to Granada to Cordoba to Salamanca to Ronda - and they were all great in their own way, but I was about ready for a tiny village, so Santillana del Mar, with a population of 4,000 and only three cobblestone streets to wander navigate sounded like a welcome change.

Before getting to the village, we took the turnoff for the Altamira Cave Museum to check out a different kind of art than that which we had been exposed to so far along our journey through Spain.

Altamira is pretty much synonymous with prehistoric cave paintings, and for good reason. If you’ve ever seen pictures of cave walls and ceilings covered with paintings of bison, horses, and deer, it was probably Altamira.

The Altamira Cave was discovered in 1879 by the young daughter of a local archaeologist. The paintings are over 14,000 years old and considered to be the best examples of prehistoric art in the world

As you might expect, it became a very popular tourist destination, so much so that in 2002, the cave was closed to the public in order to prevent further deterioration of the art.

However, today there is a museum and a replica cave, allowing visitors such as us to experience it as if it were real. It was quite amazing.

From there, we drove less than two miles to the village of Santillana del Mar and found parking at an “Aires.” As I mentioned in my Trip Overview, Aires are inexpensive (and often free) places where overnight parking for camper vans is permitted. This particular one didn’t have any services, but it was in a nice rural setting, free, and very close to town. We didn’t need overnight parking, but it served the purpose of providing us a place to park for a few hours.

It was a beautiful village, so peaceful and quiet compared to the crowds we had been encountering up to now. There are only three streets in the village, so it didn’t take us too long to see all its sites - the plaza, a stunning Romanesque church, the lovely honey-colored mansions with flower boxes in every window, and school children playing bullfight. The village was absolutely charming and for our tastes, the size was just right.