The Broken Coast

The name the Broken Coast is given to a very specific area of the Cantabrian coast, which, located just a mere half dozen kilometres from the stately city of Santander, is famous for its spectacular rock formations, where one of the most outstanding natural environments in Cantabria is also located: the Liencres Dunes Natural Park.

These rock formations, true works of natural surrealism created over centuries by those invaluable helpers of Nature, which are always the wind and the sea, also receive the curious name of Urros, by which they can also be located in that great encyclopedia, which is, without a doubt, the Internet. Many of the old fishing villages, which since time immemorial have been situated on the banks of the ever-rough waters of the Cantabrian Sea, a teacher who has trained the most hardened, daring and brilliant fishermen, have seen how, due to circumstances, their life has changed, although not their traditions, on the banks of a tourism that is increasingly surprised by the natural wonders that this region always offers.

The inexorable passage of time, as well as the raging attacks of the Cantabrian Sea, traditionally with a strong character, have meant that, lately, some of the most spectacular formations, where the water was undermining true cathedrals of subjective beauty, have ended up collapsing, giving these unique rocks other shapes, which, in some way, remind us, likewise, that life is always evolving and that nothing remains eternal in its constant becoming.

This does not mean, of course, that one cannot enjoy a supernatural spectacle, where Nature, superb to inconceivable degrees, also offers the possibility of infinite adventures, where imagination - which some still consider a true treasure - plays a fundamental role, especially if it is combined with those ancient traditions, which placed, precisely in these unique places, the habitats of all kinds of beings from a mythology, which, as fantastic as it may seem to us, still continues to generate an unusual cultural interest.

In such a way that, on the edge of beaches, in some cases still in a semi-wild state, dunes made by a sea with the patience of centuries and rocks undermined to their very heart, the locals have always located the essential habitats for witches and their covens or even for those same sirens that inspired Homer and with whom that peculiar hero of the Odyssey, the cunning Ulysses, had an interesting encounter.

Also, despite their intrusion, the sight of these little villages that are expanding their residential areas, stealing more and more land from a sea that is always jealous of its secrets, also offers a beautiful touch of picturesqueness that further enhances the tourist interest of this very special area of old Cantabria.

The Broken Coast of Cantabria: a very special area of Cantabria, which every lover of adventure, nature and fantasy should not miss.

NOTICE: Both the text and the accompanying photographs are my exclusive intellectual property and therefore are subject to my Copyright.