Surroundings, Santander

N 634 runs south from Santander and then round the Bahía de Santander in a wide curve to Solares, a little spa, beautifully situated on the Río Miera, which is also noted for its table water.

The N 634 continues on a good road through hilly country. 20km/12.5mi beyond Solares C 629 goes off on the left to Santoña (10km/6mi), a small port situated on a peninsula which Napoleon planned to make a northern Gibraltar, as the remains of fortifications still bear witness. The Romanesque collegiate church (12th-13th century) has a 16th century retablo. In the convent of San Sebastián de Anó is the tomb of Barbara Blomberg (d. 1597 at Colindres), the daughter of a German commoner who became the mistress of Charles V and mother of Don John of Austria, the victor of Lepanto. North of the town is the beach of Playa Berria.

N 634 continues through the fertile delta of the Río Asón to Colindres, where a road branches off on the right up the Asón valley to the pilgrimage center of Limpias (7km/4.5mi). In the parish church is the much venerated 17th Century image of Santo Cristo de la Agonía, which is said to have shed tears of blood in 1919.

Beyond Limpias is Laredo, beautifully situated in Santoña Bay, which has become one of the leading resorts on the Cantabrian coast, with a continually expanding modern district adjoining the crowded old town. The 13th century church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, with a 16th century doorway, contains some fine sculpture and pictures.

Beyond Laredo the road begins to climb, with beautiful rearward views of the town and the wide sweep of Santoña Bay. Thereafter it follows a winding course to the Punta de Sonabia, after which there is a magnificent stretch along the rocky coast to Castro Urdiales. From there N 634 continues to Bilbao.