What you can see on the Santoña webcams
From the harbour, one camera looks across the marina to the waterfront with Monte Buciero rising behind the town; another watches the fishing fleet tied up at its quay; the third faces the open bay and the hills towards the marshes. They are still pictures, not video, each with its date and time.
Santoña marina below Monte Buciero
This camera of Puertos de Cantabria, the regional ports service, looks across the marina of Santoña towards the town. Rows of motor boats and small yachts fill the pontoons in the foreground, with a walkway leading into the picture; beyond them the houses of the waterfront line the far side of the basin, and the dark green bulk of Monte Buciero rises straight behind the town. The mountain is a wooded headland of 376 m (1,234 ft) that ends in cliffs over the open sea, and the camera shows at a glance whether its top is clear or wrapped in cloud. The water in the basin shows the wind and the state of the tide. It is a still image, not a video, with the date and time in the corner; the refresh button brings the latest.
The fishing harbour of Santoña
Across the still water of the fishing dock, this Puertos de Cantabria camera looks to the quay where Santoña's fleet ties up: red-hulled fishing boats moored side by side, a long white quayside building behind them, and a rounded green hill across the bay. Santoña is one of the great anchovy ports of the Bay of Biscay, and its canneries made the town's name: in 1915 Giovanni Vella Scatagliota, a salter from Sicily, began preparing the salted anchovies as fillets in oil in his factory here, the way they are still sold today. The picture shows whether the boats are in port or out at sea, and the state of the light over the bay. It is a still image with the date and time.
Santoña marina and the bay towards the marshes
Looking away from the town, this Puertos de Cantabria camera faces across the marina and its breakwater to the open bay of Santoña. Small fishing boats and motor launches crowd the pontoons in the foreground, and a mast flies the Spanish flag on the left; beyond the harbour wall the water stretches towards the marshes and low hills of the inner bay, with a rounded, wooded hill on the right and the higher mountains of Cantabria fading into the distance. The marshes of Santoña, Victoria and Joyel are a protected natural park, and spoonbills stop to feed here on their migration. On sunny afternoons the light glitters on the water; on grey days the far hills disappear. It is a still image with the date and time.
Anchovies, forts and a lighthouse
Santoña's canneries made its name. Italian salters settled here from around 1900, and in 1915 one of them, Giovanni Vella Scatagliota from Sicily, began preparing the salted anchovies as fillets in oil, the way they are still sold today. The town's position at the mouth of the bay made it a stronghold: forts of the Napoleonic era still dot Monte Buciero, and in August 1719 French troops, backed by the Royal Navy, captured the town during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. On the far side of the mountain, a stairway of 685 steps built by convicts leads down the cliffs to the old Faro del Caballo lighthouse. Santoña was also the birthplace of Juan de la Cosa, owner of Columbus's flagship.
When to watch Santoña
Santoña is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. The tides in the bay are big, and the marshes and sandbanks change with every hour. Summers are mild, and in winter the cameras show the storms coming in from the Bay of Biscay over Monte Buciero.
Around Santoña
The marshes of Santoña, Victoria and Joyel, a natural park, surround the bay and are famous for birdlife. Laredo and its long beach of La Salvé lie across the water, about 10 miles (15 km) away by road, and Noja is a short drive to the north-west. Berria beach is on the north side of the town.
Getting to Santoña
Santander, with its airport and the ferry port for Portsmouth, Plymouth and Rosslare, is about 30 miles (48 km) away by road; Bilbao airport is about 44 miles (70 km) away.
