Bay of Santander
Bay of Santander | |
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Comarca and metropolitan area | |
Bay of Santander | |
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Flag Coat of arms | |
Municipalities officially part of the comarca of the Bay of Santander are in red; those not part of the administrative comarca are in light red, but the natural one - they actually lie in the comarca of Trasmiera. | |
| Country | Spain |
| Autonomous community | Cantabria |
| Province | Cantabria |
| Capital | Santander |
| Municipalities | List
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| Area | |
| • Total | 263.0 km2 (101.5 sq mi) |
| Population (2018) | |
| • Total | 269,335 |
| • Density | 1,000/km2 (2,700/sq mi) |
| GDP | |
| • Metro | €12.839 billion (2020) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
The Bay of Santander is both a comarca of Cantabria and the largest estuary on the North coast of Spain, with an extension of 22.42 km2 (9 km long and 5 km wide). Due to the influence of Santander and its metropolitan area, nearly half of the population of the autonomous community of Cantabria is gathered around it, which makes the anthropic pressure on this area of water quite notable.
The entrance to the bay is lined by the Sardinero beaches, where the Isle of Mouro with its lighthouse can be found. The access to its interior is through a narrow channel of water between the Magdalena Peninsula, near to which are the Isle of the Tower and Horadada Island; and the sandbanks of the El Puntal, a long series of beaches and dunes that protect the tranquil inner waters of the bay.
The morphology of the bay has suffered important changes in the last centuries. It is estimated that more than 50% of the original extension has been filled up, drying up a large amount of marsh area for grasslands, to expand the Port of Santander, and to create new industrial and residential areas. At the moment, work is going on to recover the seaside ecosystem in some areas of high ecological value.