Cantabria live webcams

Spain by sea from Britain and Ireland

Cantabria is the part of Spain many British and Irish travellers reach without flying. Brittany Ferries sails to Santander from Portsmouth and Plymouth, and the ships berth right in the city centre, a short walk from the cameras on its bay. Across the water, the surf beach of Somo and Loredo has its own surf cameras, and boats link it with the city in a few minutes.

Fishing harbours and big tides

East and west of Santander, Cantabria's old seafaring towns still work from their harbours, and the regional ports service keeps cameras on them. Castro Urdiales has its Gothic church and castle above a bay of moorings, Laredo its old port at the end of the long beach of La Salvé, and Suances its harbour at the mouth of an estuary lined with surf. Comillas and San Vicente de la Barquera, on the western coast, have quays below hills of palaces and medieval walls. The coast faces the Bay of Biscay, so the tides are big: on these cameras whole beaches appear and disappear twice a day.

Up into the Picos de Europa

Inland, the Picos de Europa rise straight from green valleys. Potes, the stone market town of the Liébana valley, has cameras over its rooftops and river towards the peaks, and at Fuente Dé a cable car climbs the sheer limestone wall to a viewpoint above the clouds. On a clear day the cameras show snow on the summits well into spring.

When to watch Cantabria

Cantabria is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland all year. It lies far west in its time zone, so the sun rises and sets late: in midsummer it is still light after 10pm. Summers are warm rather than hot, with sea temperatures around 20 °C by August, and autumn storms bring the biggest Atlantic swell of the year.