Cantabria

Cantabria (Spanish Cantabria ) is a facing the Cantabrian Sea ( Bay of Biscay ), this Autonomous Community in northern Spain. It is surrounded by the communities of Asturias, Castile and León and the Basque Country. The Community consists of only of the province (formerly province of Santander ). Cantabrian capital is the port and industrial city of Santander.

Geography and climate

Cantabria is hilly to mountainous. The highest elevations are in the Picos de Europa, a massif in the Cantabrian mountain range with peaks over 2000 m.

The climate in Cantabria is in the coastal area of maritime and humid with cool summers and mild winters. In the interior there is some of a mountain climate.

Biggest Towns

(As of 1 January 2013)

History

In ancient times, the area was settled by the tribe of the Cantabrians ( Cantabri ), of which the region takes its name.

The Cantabrians were displaced in the 5th century by the Visigoths, when they invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the wake of the Great Migration and a Cantabrian Duchy founded with the main town Amaya. But already in the 8th century Iberia fell almost entirely under the dominion of the Moors, except Cantabria and Asturias. Starting from here began the Reconquista, and soon were part of the Cantabrian Mountains again in Christian hands.

Alfonso II defeated the Moorish rulers Hisham I. north of Los Barrios de Luna, one of the last battles of Cantabria and expelled the Moors in the Meseta. Alfonso III. eventually founded the Kingdom of Asturias and León. Ferdinand I conquered the region and it fell in the 13th century the Kingdom of Castile to.

In the early 19th century, the French occupied the north of Spain and the Cantabrian Mountains became the starting point of the resistor again. The guerrillas waged a successful war against the French occupiers.

Economy

Larger industrial areas are located in the capital of Santander and the surrounding villages as well as in the city of Torrelavega, where, among other things larger chemical plants of Solvay, Sniace and Firestone companies are located. The focus of the industrial sector is in these two regional centers in the processing of raw materials from the region and the neighboring Asturias. In the Bay of Santander there are factories in the manufacturing industry.

Furthermore, traditional mining has significant meaning. In particular, zinc, lead and iron, and also coal are degraded.

In Los Corrales de Buelna Nissan Motor Ibérica produces 132,000 m² with 681 employees motors and gear ..

The town of Castro Urdiales in the east is part of Greater Bilbao in neighboring Basque Country.

The rest of the region is sparsely populated and is more agricultural. The local industry is concerned mainly with the processing of agricultural products. In addition to the livestock, fishing and especially domestic tourism in Cantabria is of economic importance.

Expressed in comparison with the EU GDP in purchasing power standards reached Cantabria an index of 104 (EU -27: 100 ) (2006 ). The unemployment rate in 2005 was 8.5 %.

Infrastructure

The A8 motorway connects Cantabria, the Basque Country and France to the east and the west of Asturias. In the final stage, it is France and Portugal join. A national road passes Reinosa to Burgos in Castile and León. It is at the moment another highway with the name A67 under construction, which branches off in Santander from the A8 and will guide you through a high valley on Reinosa to Palencia and piecewise is already passable.

A line of state RENFE runs to Madrid, the narrow gauge railway society feve traverses the area from Bilbao to Asturias and Galicia. Since all long-distance routes are expanded only single track and are often used by freight trains, there are few daily trains with long travel times. Only in Greater Santander there is an S- Bahn network with dense overclocking. A high- speed line along the coast of the Cantabrian Sea is provided.

Long-distance bus company ALSA serve as a supplement for thin clocked schedules of the two railway operators.

The most important port city of Santander. There is also an airport (IATA: SDR) is with flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Liverpool, London, Milan, Paris, Rome, Alicante, Barcelona, Canary Islands, Madrid, Malaga, Mallorca, Seville and Valencia.

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