Cantabria Spain - Maps, History, and Culture

Interactive Map of Cantabria, Spain

Cantabria Map Links:

The third-smallest region in size with the second-smallest total population is Cantabria. Cantabria is located in northern Spain and borders the North Atlantic Ocean to the north, Asturias to the west, Castile and Leon to the south, and the Basque Country to the east. Cantabria covers a total area of just over 2,000 square miles.

City List:

Santander
Torrelavega
Castro-Urdiales
Camargo
Pielagos
El Astillero
Santa Cruz de Bezana
Laredo
Santona
Los Corrales de Buelna

Quick Facts:

Population: 580,000
Languages: Spanish, Castilian Spanish, Cantabrian dialect
Ethnicities: Spanish, Cantabrian, Castilian
Capital: Santander

The History of Cantabria

Like many of its neighboring regions, the history of Cantabria follows the same script. The Romans invaded the Iberian Peninsula around the first century B.C. During this time, the Cantabrians fought against the Romans but were unsuccessful. This led to Roman rule until the Roman Empire fell around 460 AD.

By the early 700s, the Muslim Moors had invaded the peninsula during what was known as the Muslim Invasion. During the Muslim Invasion, Cantabria quickly formed an ally with the neighboring Asturias in hopes of outnumbering and overpowering the Muslim invaders.

This tactic was successful, as the Moors were unable to conquer the mountainous regions in both Asturias and Cantabria. Because the Moors were unable to penetrate further into the mountains and throughout the peninsula, the Christian Reconquest was made possible.

The Christian Reconquest was an attempt to push the Muslim invaders out of the peninsula and regain control. With Christians working together in the northern territories, they were successful in pushing out the Muslims and taking back the peninsula.

By the 12th Century, Christianity began to grow throughout the region. Churches, artwork, and other Catholic images could be seen throughout Cantabria.

Cantabria was complacent in being a part of both Asturias and Castile; however, it wanted its own autonomy. Therefore, in 1727, the region underwent its first attempt to become its own autonomous region in Spain. This attempt was unsuccessful in separating Cantabria from its neighboring Asturias and Castile.

The region was still considered an appendage of those territories, even though it had been given the name Province of Cantabria. It wasn’t until 1778 when the General Assembly met that the Province of Cantabria was officially constituted.

During the failed attempt of 1727, Cantabria learned that they must obtain approval from the Monarchy to become recognized. Therefore, its first order of business was to obtain approval from King Charles III not only to recognize Cantabria as a territory but also to approve the unification of all Cantabrian cities into one provincial territory. On November 22, 1779, the unification and recognition were approved.

In 1821, the city of Santander wanted to be the capital, as well as the name of the province. The Council showed the Courts the border plans for the territory, to which the city of Santander requested the name of the territory to be Santander.

Cantabria fought for its name to be recognized and used as the official name of the province but was unsuccessful, though small steps were being made to make this change.

Throughout the Spanish Civil War, when Spanish Republicans and Catholic Monarch Nationalists were on opposites sides of one another, the name Santander gained strength.

During General Franco’s administration throughout the 1930s, the Spanish Republicans created a plan to unify Cantabria with Castile and Asturias, resulting in one territory for the three regions. However, the Spanish Civil War prevented the plan from passing, leaving the territories separate from one another.

It wasn’t until 1963 that plans to give the territory the name of Cantabria and remove Santander began once more. While there was support from each territory throughout Cantabria, there was too much opposition from the city of Santander, ultimately leading the plan to fail and keeping the name of the territory as Santander.

Finally, in 1981, Cantabria broke ties with the neighboring regions and was given its name. King Juan Carlos I signed the Organic Law of Autonomy Statute on December 30, 1981, giving Cantabria its present-day name with the borders, law, and jurisdictions we know today.

Languages

Spanish is spoken and taught throughout the region. Castilian Spanish is the type of Spanish that is spoken because Cantabria was once part of Castile. Castilian Spanish is regularly heard in the northern territories of Spain and will likely be heard on radio and television productions that are broadcasted from Spain. Castilian Spanish describes the Spanish language heard in Spain rather than the Spanish that is heard in Latin America.

Religion

The primary religion of Cantabria, as well as the remainder of northern Spain, is Catholic Christianity. Catholicism is still practiced today largely in part because of the success of the Christian Reconquest between the 8th and 12th centuries. Christianity was able to prevail by reconquering the territories that had been taken over by Muslim Invaders, making it the primary religion of the territory today.

Geography

Cantabria has coastlines, mountains, and rivers. The mountains helped prevent the Muslims from invading further north, allowing the Christians to reconquer the territory during the invasion. The Atlantic coastline of Cantabria has many steep cliffs that meet the sea. The southern area of Cantabria has valleys, river basins, farmlands, and national parks.

Agriculture is still abundant in the southern region of Cantabria with cattle farms, eucalyptus production, and forestry preservation. The northern region, however, is dry and sandy, making agriculture and vegetation scarce.

Culture

Much of the Spanish language can be attributed to Cantabria and the bordering northern territories, as this style of Spanish is traditional to the country of Spain. Spanish that is spoken in Central and South America is slightly different from Castilian Spanish.

Many religious monuments throughout Cantabria were constructed after the Christian Reconquest. There are churches, statues, and colleges throughout Cantabria that represent the culture of the region.

Immigration & Migration Patterns

The territories in northern Spain saw many emigrants leave the country for the New World in the western hemisphere during the 1800s. Santander had become a port of trade for the New World, which allowed Cantabrians to learn of opportunities that the New World was presenting, as well as a means of transportation to get there.

Places that Cantabrians were migrating to included the southern United States, California, and other neighboring states to the gold rush country.

Genealogy

Those with Cantabrian genealogy have ancestors that were native to northern Spain. Most Cantabrians remained in northern Spain, continuing to live in the Cantabria territory or moving to a neighboring territory; however, ancestors that emigrated from northern Spain likely came to the southern and western United States during the gold rush era.

Other Cantabrians who left Cantabria likely moved to other northern territories in Spain or neighboring European countries during the unrest and recession from the Spanish Civil War.